NOAA Fisheries Service Hosts Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group & Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Working Group Discarded fishing gear can entangle and kill fish, seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals, and other wildlife as well as pose a danger to divers and anglers. On July 21, NOAA Fisheries Service hosted the Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group/Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Meeting. The Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group is a partnership program of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’ Florida Manatee Recovery and Implementation Team. The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program is currently a Florida statewide effort to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment, to encourage recycling through a network of line recycling bins and drop-off locations, and to conduct volunteer monofilament line cleanup events. The program was initiated with funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Advisory Council for Environmental Education and involves partnerships as the key to its success. The program has three long-term goals: 1) heighten awareness about the negative impacts that fishing line debris has on human welfare, marine life, and water quality; 2) decrease the amount of fishing line entering and remaining in the natural environment; and 3) increase the amount of fishing line being recycled. The work group strives to decrease entanglements in fishing gear through education and outreach efforts, gear recovery and clean-up, entanglement research, and development of potential technique and gear modifications. Additional information on the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program may be found at:
NOAA Fisheries Service Hosts Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group & Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Working Group
Discarded fishing gear can entangle and kill fish, seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals, and other wildlife as well as pose a danger to divers and anglers. On July 21, NOAA Fisheries Service hosted the Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group/Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Meeting. The Interagency Manatee Entanglement Working Group is a partnership program of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’ Florida Manatee Recovery and Implementation Team. The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program is currently a Florida statewide effort to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment, to encourage recycling through a network of line recycling bins and drop-off locations, and to conduct volunteer monofilament line cleanup events.
The program was initiated with funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Advisory Council for Environmental Education and involves partnerships as the key to its success. The program has three long-term goals:
1) heighten awareness about the negative impacts that fishing line debris has on human welfare, marine life, and water quality;
2) decrease the amount of fishing line entering and remaining in the natural environment; and
3) increase the amount of fishing line being recycled. The work group strives to decrease entanglements in fishing gear through education and outreach efforts, gear recovery and clean-up, entanglement research, and development of potential technique and gear modifications.
Additional information on the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program may be found at:
www.fishinglinerecycling.com, or contact Mi************@no**.gov.