St Lucie County Monofilament Fishing Line Recycling Program

St. Lucie County has  implemented a new recycling program that focuses on removing used monofilament fishing line from the environment. This program is a cooperative effort provided by the University of Florida / St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension and St. Lucie County Recycling.

Improperly discarded fishing line accounts for many tragic wildlife deaths due to entanglement. Birds face prolonged death from starvation by having the line wrapped around their beaks or necks. When their wings or legs become tangled, it hinders or removes their ability to fly, search for food, and avoid predators. Manatee, turtles, alligators, and other wildlife suffer from loss of limbs from line entanglement and even death from gangrenous infection, or ingestion of the line. Fishing line discarded in our waterways also fouls boat propellers which is a serious litter problem, especially around boat ramps and fishing areas. Even when the line is disposed in trash bins it still goes to the landfill which creates the same hazards for wildlife, unless it is cut into small pieces. One solution to the problem is to have recycling containers available to boaters and fishermen to discard their used line.  St. Lucie County has placed containers at many locations throughout the county.  

 

Maps

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St Lucie County monofilament recycling stations mapped in Google Earth

       If you don't have Google Earth  software download it here: Google Earth

 MyFWC Monofilament List for St Lucie Co.

Contacts

If you would like additional information about the fishing line recycling program, contact Ken Gioeli at ktgioeli@ufl.edu or Leroy Creswell at creswell@ufl.edu or call (772) 462-1660.