Southold Boy Scouts Help to Detangle Wildlife from Discarded Fishing Line

Discarded fishing line, if left out in the open on beaches, can harm and kill wildlife. Which is why the Southold Pack 6 Webelos, part of the Southold Boy Scouts, are working to rid North Fork beaches of fishing line litter to protect our local critters.

The "Reel in and Recycle" program is their effort in conjunction with the to raise awareness about the damage done to wildlife, boats, and swimmers by fishing line that is not appropriately discarded.

With the help of the environmental council, the webelos have made special PVC containers, labeled them, and placed them at several Southold Town beaches to encourage people to pick up and appropriately throw away used fishing line.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, monofilament fishing line is one of the major causes of marine debris and accounts for damage to boats, swimmers, and especially wildlife. Monofilament fishing line takes over 600 years to break down. Wildlife is killed or harmed by ingesting or being strangled by fishing line.

Ryan Burns, 9, and his webleo friends started the "Reel in and Recycle" after reading an article in "Boy's Life" magazine about a program to collect used fishing line.

"My friends and I were looking online, and we know a lot of people who like to fish," he said. "We learned that birds, fish and boats were getting tangled in the fishing line."

Amy Burns, Ryan's mother, and webleo den leader said that the project was doable and served a need in the community. The webelos developed a presentation and got the assistance of the North Fork Environmental Council in making PVC canisters to collect the used line.

Members of the Webelos presented their project to theduring last Thursday's meeting and received approval for installing the canisters at several beaches in Southold Town including , , , , and .

Supervisor Scott Russell said that the program was timely.

"There is always an ongoing struggle with the maintenance of the beaches and tackle, and the canisters are a pragmatic solution," he said.

But with regular trash being thrown into the canisters, the webelos are having a hard time emptying the canisters and recycling the line at special plants. To combat this problem, Southold Town board members agreed to leave regular trash containers throughout the year on the beaches, and put them next to the white PVC containers so people can sort the two easily.

At the board meeting, Ryan said the program was important to him and his friends.

"We think that people should be aware that they can recycle the line, instead of leaving it and hurting the animals," he said.