 DNR Biologist Advises: Don’t discard your fishing line, recycle instead
SPRING GREEN, Wis. - Have you ever snagged your fishing line in a tree or weeds? Changed the line along the shore? How about getting a knot in your line that you cannot undo so you cut the line? Most of us who fish have encountered these scenarios. The important thing is what you do next with that fishing line, points out Becky Roth, Department of Natural Resources’ wildlife biologist based at Spring Green.
“Picking up fishing line along the Wisconsin River can be a chore. After collecting it on almost every trip to the river and seeing wildlife snarled up in it, an investigation into the impact discarded fishing line has on the environment was under way. I drove back to the office and started doing some research,” recalls Roth.
What the biologist discovered is that monofilament fishing line can last in the environment for over 600 years and “that’s a lot of time for fish and wildlife to possibly encounter it,” she notes.
Fishing line can harm fish and wildlife in several ways. Birds, including waterfowl, and mammals can get wrapped up in it. This can cause them to drown or prevent them from moving to find food and shelter, making them vulnerable. Fishing line is not digestible, so if an animal were to eat it, it would not be able to consume other food and could end up starving to death.
“This was all depressing news until I came upon a recycling program. Some people may already be aware of this, but I was not and neither were some of my fishing buddies,” says Roth.
Berkley Fishing Products, of Spirit Lake, IA, a division of Pure Fishing, provides prepaid recycling boxes for bait shops so people can discard their line. Other states provide collective tubes for line at popular fishing spots and boat landings. They recycle the line to make several products, including tackle boxes, and also make structures out of the material to put back into the water as fish habitat.
Roth talked to the Berkley folks and will soon be receiving a recycling box for her office for those trips to the river. “If you would like to recycle your line, please contact me. Six hundred years is a long time,” she adds. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
- Roth can be reached at her Tower Hill State Park office, 5808 CTH C, Spring Green, 608-588-3432 or at Rebecca.roth@wisconsin.gov.
 Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska, Bristol Bay Hunt Contest
You still have time to get your name in the hat!
Scott Hed, Director of Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska, just told Dan Small Outdoors Radio, that SAoA would be announcing the winner of the Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska’s Bristol Bay Campaign Donor Contest, at the 2009 OWAA Conference in Grand Rapids, MI.
The drawing will take place on June 15. A $50 donation to the Sportsman’s Alliance, Alaska’s Bristol Bay Campaign, will enter you for the chance to have your name drawn.
The winner will choose between moose or grizzly bear for their Alaska hunt. Plus they’ll receive a new Kimber rifle, Leupold scope, and hunting clothing set from Sitka.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
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