Tampa Bay inhabitants have a long history of fishing, both commercially and recreationally. To ensure future generations will have the same opportunity to fish our waterways, it’s essential to properly dispose of fishing line and gear.
Tampa Bay Watch joins the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in their statewide initiative to recycle old fishing line. The Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program (MRRP) is dedicated to reduce fishing line environmental impacts by encouraging recycling through a network of monofilament bins and drop-off locations.
Monofilament or “mono,” is a fancy word for the commonly used plastic fishing line. It has great fishing utility, but can take over 600 years to break down and poses serious threat to birds and other wildlife. Improperly discarded mono and fishing gear leads to wildlife entanglement, accidental hooks, and ingestion.
Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast is home and migration ground for over 40,000 breeding pairs and 25 different bird species that nest annually. In an effort to keep our waterways and bird nesting islands free of mono, we manage 200+ “monotubes” (fishing line recycling bins) and host mono clean-a-thons a few times a year.
Email Sara Brehm with questions about this program: sbrehm@tampabaywatch.org
