Recycle Your Old Fishing Line
(photo courtesy of @reese_melven_fishing)
Hey kayak fishing anglers—don’t throw your old fishing line into our creeks, rivers, lakes or oceans! Instead take it with you and recycle it to help keep our waterways clean and the local wildlife safe.
Threats of Old Fishing Line to Local Wildlife
Fishing line is a known threat to local wildlife. Both land and marine life can be harmed including birds, seals, turtles, fish and more. Coils of line dropped or simply tossed off your kayak or onshore can easily get tangled around these creatures causing injury and even eventual death.
Fishing Line Doesn’t Decompose
Did you know it can take 600 years for fishing line to decompose? We certainly don’t need old line sitting in our waterways and along the shorelines of our waterways for that long.
How to Dispose of Old Fishing Line Correctly
Rick Wallace of Tackle Village published this helpful infographic:
People are starting to place recycling bins for fishing line at popular piers and boat launches. These bins are the ideal place to dispose of your old line.
Rick says, “Recycled monofilament and fluorocarbon line can be repurposed into plastics that can even be used in the constructions of new fishing gear!”
If your favorite fishing spots don’t have a recycling bin for old line yet, do what you can to place one there yourself. Consider working with your local kayak fishing organization or club to make or purchase some.
If recycling isn’t available in your area and your old line is likely to end up in a landfill, coil the line and cut it into sections no more than a few inches long. This will at least prevent birds and animals from getting entangled in it.
Tackle Village includes a list of fishing line recycling programs in the US, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia on this page.
What can you do to help make it easy for anglers in your area to recycle their old fishing line?
What paddle questions can we help you with? Contact our friendly Customer Service team today: 715-755-3405 • [email protected]
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