1000 Flowers for the Planet - #309 Reel in Your Line

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #309 Reel in Your Line

It’s way too easy to cut a tangled fishing line and let it slip into the water and out of sight. The waterways and the oceans look like giant places where stuff can disappear – you know, that ‘away’ place that exists beyond your rubbish/trash bin. But allowing fishing line, either accidentally or on purpose, to slip into the water is the wrong thing to do, with major consequences for marine and birdlife, and ultimately for us too. Fishing line can be ingested by marine and bird life, eventually killing the poor creatures, that die slow and painful deaths. Entanglement occurs when the line wraps around turtles, disabling flippers, or it wraps around bills, causing birds to die of starvation. Fishing line can also become entangled in propellers and block intake pipes, disabling power boats and fishing boats. Finding fine, clear fishing line in waterways and in the ocean is difficult and expensive, making the cleanup a major issue. So let’s be sure not to leave fishing line in the water at all – ever. Reel in your line, every time.