The Eastern Shore Bassmasters, a local bass fishing club located in the central Delaware area, in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife have implemented a monofilament recycling program at a number of Delaware ponds, lakes, and rivers. Club President David Perrego and Conservation Director Avery Dalton pitched the idea to the Division of Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Biologist Cathy Martin, based on similar recycling programs currently in place throughout the country.
 
The program is patterned after the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission's monofilament fishing line recycling program. The club has constructed a number of recycling bins made out of PVC that will provide anglers at local recreational areas a means to discard their old fishing line. "The recycling bins will help eliminate the accumulation of old fishing line discarded along the banks of ponds and rivers in which birds, turtles, and other wildlife can become entangled and struggle to free themselves, or die" says Perrego. 
 
The club constructed eight recycling bins that will be placed in obvious places in these recreational areas so that anglers may take full advantage of the disposal option, and help the club and division create awareness towards conservation of Delaware's wildlife and natural resources. The bins will be marked and highly visible at such locations including Killen's Pond State Park in Felton, Moore's Lake in Dover, Garrison's Lake in Smyrna, McGinness Pond in Milford, and one each on the Nanticoke River at Phillips Landing and the Seaford Public Ramp.
 
Eastern Shore is currently working with the Berkley manufacturing company, the makers of Stren and Trilene fishing line, to provide an end use for the collected fishing line. The Berkley Conservation Institute has parented a recycling program that recycles the collected fishing line along with the spent plastic spools the fishing line comes on, to create artificial fish structures. 

Members of Eastern Shore Bassmasters helped construct and place the recycling bins in an effort to reduce the potential of fishing line being left behind anglers while fishing. "Without the help of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, we wouldn't be able to expand the program as we currently have," adds Perrego. Cathy Martin and her colleagues at DFW should be credited for donating the materials to construct the bins.   

Success of the program will be indicated by the amount of fishing line removed on a regular basis from the recycling bins and/or just disposed of in the regular trash. The goal here is to get it out of the ecosystem.
 
For further information on the Eastern Shore Bassmasters Conservation projects and recycling programs, please visit www.eteamz.com/easternshorebassmasters.