Do the right thing for the environment and fishing

October 24, 2024

With summer around the corner, popular fishing locations get busy with keen fishers and in some cases, unfortunately, that means more litter and lost fishing gear.

Fishing related litter and debris can have a big impact on wildlife that interact with it. Birds, turtles, seals, platypus and other aquatic animals can be accidentally injured by discarded tackle, including fishing line, hooks and sinkers, lures, traps and nets. At some popular sites, it can also impact visitors and their dogs.

No one likes the sight of litter when spending a day by the water so always dispose of rubbish, bait and unwanted tackle – even if it’s not yours!

Here’s some tips to help reduce fishing-based litter and debris:

Don’t carry packaging around with you. Unwrap new tackle before you go to reduce the chance of the packaging ending up in the environment
Familiarise yourself with fishing techniques that minimise gear loss and marine litter
Use the appropriate gear for the location and master your knot-tying skills to reduce the risk of snagged and lost fishing tackle
Think about the environment you are fishing in. If it’s a snaggy/reefy environment, think about how you can fish it without snagging – suspend your bait using a float, use only very small weights or no weights at all to keep your bait away from the snags. Or use a sufficiently heavy weight adjacent to the snaggy area to prevent your bait drifting into the structure
Always attend your lines, reducing the risk of tackle and line being lost
Leave no trace – ensure all litter and fish waste is taken and disposed of appropriately after every fishing trip
If a public bin is overflowing, find another bin or take your rubbish home
If you are disposing of fishing line at home, it is best to cut the line up into small pieces before putting it in the bin – this reduces the risk of it causing additional problems for birds at landfill sites
Go the extra mile and check out ways in which you can help further (including any locally run ‘Clean Up’ events) with organisations such as Clean Up Australia, OzFish, Tangaroa Blue and Take 3.