Fishing Line Recycling

Protecting Marine Life Through

Responsible Angling

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.

Impact of Fishing Line

X-ray image of a fish with a hook in its mouth.

A pelican with injuries, lying on a white cloth on grass, being attended to by a person.

Woman holding a string of hunted ducks and birds on a sandy beach.

Close-up of a person's hands holding a pet toy resembling an animal's paw with claws, with a fishing lure attached to it.

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.

Monofilament that has been improperly discarded or left in the environment is potentially lethal to our local waterbird population. To combat this threat, Tampa Bay Watch partners with Audubon Florida to host an annual bird island cleanup. This effort targets the removal of fishing line, tackle and other marine debris from known rookery islands around the Tampa Bay watershed. The community volunteer event is hosted prior to nesting season in order to provide safer nesting habitat for breeding and juvenile colonial waterbirds. We also host additional fishing line cleanups as needed throughout the year.

Our Approach

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.

Fishing line recycling station at a marina with a boat and water in the background.

Monotubes

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, staff and community volunteers manage 200+ “monotubes” (fishing line recycling bins) and host mono clean-a-thons a few times a year.