Lesson From A Jetty In Jeopardy

With summer and various fishing seasons approaching I am reminded to remark on the abundance of monofilament(fishing line) debris I find at nearly all monitored sites on Fishers Island.Walking shorelines I also see large amounts of old frayed and knotted boat line from vessels and torn ropes from lobster traps. I document entangled birds I encounter too – a hook and line protruding from beaks or webbed feet, frayed string necklaces tangled with feathers.

There is a popular fishing site in New Smyrna Beach-a jetty around which I monitored local dolphins, Brown Pelican and Snowy Egret. While attending Coastal Systems at Marine Discovery Center I viewed a video that documented local divers for Volusia County disentangling this same jetty from over 600 pounds of monofilament. Filmed underwater it was an eye opener to see what wasn’t visible to all those fishermen casting their rods topside.  They missed seeing gloved hands spend painstaking moments cutting away snarled nests of line from sea urchin spines and coral communities, synthetic tumbleweeds blocking sunlight where sea grass should grow.

Volusia County also takes forward steps with educational outreach and places receptacles for recycling fishing line especially near popular recreational areas.

For the few weeks I observed people fishing and surfcasting practices here, I took the time to explain to some folks that the living Jetty was once strangled by their “catch” and was now “released”.  Enthusiastically describing aloud the freedom and relief for a tiny urchin was a huge step for me so I smiled and mentioned they too can “get hooked” on conservation and educational outreach….