Fishing is an excellent sport, past time, and an economical way to add quality protein to your diet. But I wonder how often our neglected fishing line and hooks are discarded into the water either accidentally or because it’s something we have always done. Apparently, more often than one would think. Last summer, 150 local brown pelicans were caught in a fishing line, and taken to the Pacific Wildlife Center for treatment and rehabilitation.
Sadly, discarded fishing line wraps around seabirds legs, wings or beaks and can cut off blood circulation, according to a volunteer group, Pier Watch, in San Luis Obispo county in California.
“Trailing lines wrapped around body parts of seabirds get entangled with trees and other structures leading to injuries, starvation, drowning and death. Fishhooks can pierce a bird’s flesh, leading to infection,” notes a Pier Watch brochure I found at a local fishing shop.
I won’t get preachy here because this reminder about seaside mind-fullness applies to me as much as to any other person who has ever dropped a fishing line into the water.
Categories: Fishing Lines, Uncategorized
Leave a Reply