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Tides & Taps: Where Your Old Fishing Line Should Go
November is one of the best months to fish in Palm Beach County. The heat breaks, the mornings go soft and pink, and the piers, bridges and boat ramps fill up again. That also means more old fishing line: a bird's nest of tangled mono cut off a reel, a snapped leader, a few feet stripped off before a fresh knot.
This week's Tides & Taps is about where that line goes. It is one of the easiest things any angler can get right, and the cost of getting it wrong falls on the pelicans, turtles and manatees that share the water with us.
Why a few feet of line matters
Monofilament is strong, nearly invisible and built to last. Those are exactly the problems once it is loose. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program (MRRP) says mono is not biodegradable and can last hundreds of years, depending on conditions. It can also stretch 25 percent or more before it breaks, which is why an animal that gets wrapped in it rarely pulls free.
FWC lists the damage plainly: animals caught in line or swallowing it can be injured, drown, strangle or starve. Birds, turtles, manatees, fish and dolphins are all on the list, and FWC says almost any animal can get tangled. The program also notes studies linking fishing line to dead or damaged coral colonies.
One number from FWC's own FAQ is hard to forget. A dead sea turtle recovered during an international cleanup had swallowed 590 feet of fishing line.
The good news: Florida already built the bins
You have probably walked past one: a PVC tube at the pier or the ramp, marked for fishing line. FWC says there are more than 1,600 of these bins around the state, at boat ramps, fishing piers, marinas, tackle shops and many fishing supply stores. Volunteers empty them, pick out the hooks, weights and trash by hand, and send the line on.
Where it goes next is the satisfying part. According to the MRRP, the line is shipped to Berkley's recycling operation in Spirit Lake, Iowa, melted into plastic pellets, and made into things like tackle boxes, line spools and fish habitats. It does not become new fishing line, but it stops being a trap.
What goes in the bin, and what never does
The bins only work if what goes in them is clean. These are FWC's sorting rules, from the MRRP and FWC's Gone Coastal column on line and tackle disposal:
- In the PVC bin: monofilament and fluorocarbon line. Pull out any hooks, weights and trash first.
- Covered trash, not the bin: braided line, wire and leader material. Cut it into pieces 12 inches or shorter and use a can with a lid, so the wind or a bird cannot pull it back out.
- Never in the bin: hooks, lures and soft plastic baits. They can injure the volunteers who clean the bins. Clip hook points before they go in the trash.
- Not your home recycling cart either. FWC says fishing line cannot go into most household recycling bins.
A few habits that keep line out of the water
FWC's advice for anglers is mostly about never losing the line in the first place. Check your line often for frays. Do not leave baited lines unattended, because pelicans and herons will go after the bait. Cast away from trees, power lines, wildlife and snags. And if you find someone else's line on the rocks or snarled on a rail, pick it up and hold it until you reach a bin.
A cheap way to make that easy: FWC suggests cutting an X in the lid of a tennis ball can or a coffee can and keeping it in your tackle bag or on the boat. Stuff scraps in as you go and empty it into the next bin you pass.
If you find a tangled animal
It will happen to someone on a pier this season. Here is what FWC asks you to do:
- Stay calm and watch for a couple of minutes to be sure the animal really is entangled.
- Manatee or sea turtle? Report it to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922, or *FWC from a cell phone. These are protected species. With manatee season starting, as we wrote in our post on manatee season, it is a number worth saving now.
- Hooked a bird? FWC has a step-by-step guide to safely unhooking and releasing one at MyFWC.com/Unhook.
- Smaller animal? Contact a local licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
Four things to do this month
- Find your nearest bin. The MRRP keeps a statewide bin map. Look up the pier or ramp you use most before your next trip.
- Make a pocket bin. A tennis ball can with an X cut in the lid. Five minutes, no cost, and it lives in your tackle bag.
- Adopt or build a bin. If your spot does not have one, the MRRP shows how to build your own bin, and FWC provides bin stickers to Florida programs at no cost.
- Join a cleanup. The MRRP lists volunteer cleanup events. A morning picking line off a jetty is a good morning.
The fall bite is on, as we covered in our mullet run post, so there is plenty of reason to be out there. When you are done for the day, the Reef Room is the first building off the I-95 Atlantic Ave exit in Delray Beach. Trivia, bingo and the rest of the week are on our events page. Bring the fish stories, and leave the line in the bin.
The Saltwater Brewery Team