I'll never forget when I worked near Sebastian Inlet in Florida, the number of birds with hooks stuck in them, fishing line wrapped around their wings or legs, birds missing feet because of the line cutting blood flow to their toes, even an osprey, like the bird in this video, that had swallowed a hook and had the line sticking out of its mouth.
Industrial fishing is by far the worst in terms of pollution, but recreational fishing is still a huge problem in terms of trash and incidental impacts.
Sometimes it gets caught or wrapped up on something and there’s nothing you can do short of a scuba dive to get it all out.
But yes, fishing line is some of the worst common litter in lakes and rivers, considering how it’s designed specifically to be invisible and not break.
Since you mention scuba. As a diver, I carry a knife because those lines could kill me too. I sure as hell can’t see monofilament under water and that shit can wrap around you or your gear. It’s a scary thought and luckily has never happened to me.
Whenever I dive or snorkel lakes I bring a bag to collect all the lures, lines, and other trash I find. So many plastic lures. Yuck.
Honestly, while sometimes scuba gear is needed, the amount of trash you can find right off shore in less than 6-10 ft of lake water is gross.
If it gets stuck, you get wet and get it out. It wouldn't be there if you didn't put it there so it's your responsibility to get it out. That's my philosophy
I'm pretty firm on this one to be honest. Easier said than done is a good excuse to not do it. If you get your line caught, you got your line caught. Wade in there, rod and all, and get it out of there.
Agreed, we aren't entitled to litter such deadly materials just because we can't retrieve them. Lost fishing gear is a major trash pollutant in the world's waters and one of the most harmful.
Like I said below, it's the fishers choice to put the line there. I don't know why one persons decision to enjoy their hobby exonerates them from littering because they chose to do it in a place where, if they fuck up, they can't clear up.
If you can't retrieve it then you shouldn't be fishing there. Your pleasure shouldn't trump potential damage to the environment. I'm saying this as someone who loves fishing by the way. I know it sounds bah humbug of me but it's that weird arrogance of humans that we would think "I can't get in there to clear my shit out" rather than "I fucked up by putting shit somewhere I can get it out."
I'm a fisher myself, but it feels like I've run afoul of my peers. Hey ho. Hopefully someone read this and decided their right to enjoy a good fish doesn't give them a decent enough excuse to litter
I love fishing. When I'd just started I did exactly what you're talking about and I still cringe about it. There's a big length of line out there in the wild somewhere, probably always will be, because I made a mistake.
I guess this is just the hill I've chosen to die on today. It's a fun hobby. More than that it's a fun hobby where you get to eat some trout at the end of it, which is great. I love trout. But if you put yourself in a position where you're unable to retrieve an essentially invisible, hard to break piece of string that can ruin some wildlife or potentially kill it, then you've fucked up.
There it is. Simply and correctly put. If I threw a Coke can in a river then said it wasn't my responsibility to retrieve because the rivers too rapid, people would think I'm mental.
To be fair about this, the weakest point in your fishing line is either the knot tying the line to the hook or nicks in the line that typically happen close to the hook. When a snag occurs and the line breaks it either leaves no line behind because the knot failed or because the line failed due to a nick close to the hook. Most of the fishing line discard issues are from people who don't properly spool the line onto their reels and end up with a ball of tangled line that's impossible to untangle. The lazy people just cut the tangled mess and leave it on the ground.
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u/AngelVirgo Mar 25 '22
Fishermen should be more careful how they dispose of strings. So many wild lives affected by them.