29th Annual Fishing Line Island Cleanup

Join Tampa Bay Watch and Audubon Florida for the 29th Annual Fishing Line Island Cleanup.

The goal is to remove hazardous monofilament line from mangrove shorelines. 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 threats to birds and other wildlife. Improperly discarded mono and fishing gear leads to wildlife entanglement, accidental hooks, and ingestion.

This will be a self-led event, where participants will travel out to their designated location by personal boat/other watercraft any day between October 15-23 to target shorelines where cast line has been caught in the tree line. Volunteers will compile the recovered monofilament, to be collected, cleaned, and recycled.

There are a variety of sites in which to participate—all critical bird nesting habitat—throughout Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee.

Click here to register to volunteer for this event.