By Lauren Eggleston
Save the River Upper St. Lawrence RIVERKEEPER®, in partnership with the Thousand Islands Association, announces a brand new Fishing Line Recycling Program for our fellow fisherpeople. Nine Recycling Stations are currently installed at a variety of local marinas, boat launches and popular fishing spots; find them at French Creek Marina, Mary Street Dock, Frink Park, Northern Marine, TI Bait Store, Minna Anthony Common Nature Center, Wellesley Island State Park Marina, DeWolf State Park Launch, and Save the River’s Office. The goal of this program is to bring awareness to the issues caused by fishing line being left in the environment and the importance of properly disposing of fishing line.
Monofilament line is single-strand, high-density nylon fishing line. Used line can be harmful to birds, fish, turtles, other aquatic species, and boat motors. Birds and animals can become tangled in fishing line and starve or drown. Even when fishing line makes it to the garbage, monofilament takes approximately 600 years to degrade.
By disposing of your fishing line in our easy access Fishing Line Recycling Stations you are helping to keep our local wildlife safe, our waters clean and keep monofilament out of landfills. Save the River’s volunteer-led effort recycles the collected fishing line through the Berkley Recycling Center.
For more information about our Fishing Line Recycling Program, contact Save the River at info@savetheriver.org.
Thank you to TIA members Stuart Arnett, Alec Turner, Dave McWilliam and Anna Cowan for building the recycle stations and making this program possible!