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Drop A Line Where It Won't Hurt

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

RUSKIN - Nature lovers will have new places to dispose of used fishing line in south and east Hillsborough County and Tampa, thanks to expansion of a recovery program begun in 2006 by the nonprofit organization Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful.

Tubes to collect the monofilament line have been placed at the Little Manatee River State Park in Wimauma, Edward Medard Park in the Turkey Creek area east of Valrico and along the Courtney Campbell Parkway in Tampa.

The tubes join others in place at Apollo Beach Nature Park, Williams Park in Riverview and the Gandy Bridge in Tampa.

Hillsborough's litter prevention program added monofilament cleanup to its agenda in 2006 because of the hundreds of animals that become entangled in discarded fishing line each year, said Christine Commerce, the program's executive director.

Turtles, manatees, dolphins, fish and birds have been injured by ingesting or being snared in fishing lines, and many have perished as a result. Monofilament is particularly lethal to seabirds, which try to collect the tossed line for nesting or dive for a fish on a hook and become tangled in the line after an angler cuts it.

During the three-hour 2007 Florida Coastal Cleanup event in September, volunteers found 2,750 pieces of discarded line in Hillsborough County, Commerce said. The year before, local volunteers found nearly 2,100 pieces of monofilament. They reported five birds, several fish and two crabs tangled up in discarded line.

Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful allocated about $1,000 of a nearly $13,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to expanding its monofilament collection and recycling program. Most of the grant will go for public awareness advertising and educational materials aimed at reducing litter, especially cigarette butts, and stormwater pollution, Commerce said.
Program organizers are looking for volunteers to periodically remove the fishing line from the tubes, clean it and turn it in for recycling, Commerce said. Typically, she said, most sites should be checked monthly.

"If anyone knows of an area that needs a monofilament tube, we're always looking for locations to place them," Commerce said.

For information, call (813) 960-5121.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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