A monofilament recycling bin — one of three installed on the Santa Monica Pier. Photo: Heal the Bay/Nick Fash
Messaging on the recycling bins encourages anglers to recycle their used fishing line. Photo: Heal the Bay/Nick Fash

This past spring, a group of concerned citizens worked with Heal the Bay staff member Nick Fash, the City of Santa Monica, and the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation to create and install three monofilament fishing line recycling bins on the Santa Monica Pier fishing platforms.

A big-hearted carpenter spearheaded the project along with some metal workers who were tired of seeing first-hand the damage that discarded fishing line can do (see “Invisible and Dangerous” sidebar at right). Knowing how short-staffed the local authorities were to combat this issue, they mobilized to help protect marine life, utilizing their skills and donating all the time and materials needed to bring the project to fruition.

The monofilament recycling bins went through a number of design modifications and are now poised to be the prototype for units at piers and fishing areas up and down the California coast. Not only do the bins provide a convenient, safe, on-site receptacle for used fishing line, but instructive messaging encourages recycling and helps educate anglers about the dangers of improperly discarded monofilament in the ocean.

Derelict Fishing Gear — The Larger Problem

The new recycling bins are an important element in the efforts to reduce a particularly devastating class of marine debris called derelict fishing gear (fishing equipment that has been lost or abandoned). Unfortunately, this type of debris is a far larger problem than a few recreational anglers discarding used fishing line. There are massive amounts of derelict fishing gear off the Southern California coast, including nets, lines, crab and shrimp traps/pots, and other recreational and/or commercial harvest equipment.

In fact, the SeaDoc Society at the University of California, Davis, Wildlife Health Center launched the California Lost Fishing Gear Removal Project in July 2005 and since May of 2006, has removed more than 10 tons of derelict fishing gear — a small fraction of the total estimated amount.

This derelict gear can have incredibly destructive effects not only upon marine life and the habitats they live in, but also to humans that use the ocean for recreation. Fortunately, California state bill SB 898, which, if passed, would help identify and remove derelict fishing gear from California waters, is progressing nicely on its way to becoming law.  SB 898 is part of the Pacific Protection Initiative, a series of state bills sponsored by Heal the Bay to tackle the problem of marine debris off the California coast.