COLUMN: Dangers of discarding fishing line

   Litter at Central Park has become deadly!

   This past week, a beautiful orange and black adult male Baltimore oriole was found dead tangled in fishing line at its nest site. Scenes like this unfortunately play out more often than you might imagine.

   Central Park and other Jones County Conservation Board areas are Carry IN Carry OUT. Although most park users are courteous and responsible, litter can still be found within our area parks. One silent but deadly litter item, commonly found, is discarded fishing line.

   Birds might mistake fishing line for plant fibers or hair, both of which are common nesting materials for many bird species. Birds attempting to collect or use fishing line for nesting material risk entanglement and entrapment, which happened to our Central Park nesting Baltimore oriole.

   Fishing line can wrap around an animal's legs, neck, or wings, causing injury, drowning, or strangulation. Birds that are entangled may not be able to walk or fly, making them vulnerable to predators and limiting their access to food. Entanglement and entrapment caused by discarded fishing line often leads to a long, slow death.

   Some animals mistake discarded fishing line for food and accidentally eat it or become entangled in it. More than one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year from marine debris, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fishing line is the number one culprit cleanup volunteers worldwide encounter when they try to save wildlife, according to the Ocean Conservancy organization.

   Fishing lines are made of materials like nylon, polyethylene, and polypropylene that do not break down naturally and can remain in the water for decades. Monofilament fishing line can last up to six hundred years in the environment, whether it is in freshwater or saltwater. It is non-biodegradable and can be dangerous to wildlife, people, and equipment.

   Park users and anglers can help prevent discarded fishing line problems by picking up and packing out fishing line whenever it is encountered. The Berkley Conservation Institute has a long history of promoting and facilitating fishing line recycling. Since 1990, the institute, with the help of anglers everywhere, has recycled more than nine million miles’ worth of fishing line. That is enough line to fill two reels for every angler in America.

   You can help by picking up discarded fishing line and recycling it by dropping it off in a recycling collection bin, or mailing it directly to the Berkley Collection Center at:  Berkley Recycling, 1900 18^th Street, Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360.