One of the greatest human-induced threats that our sea turtles face is fishing debris, including line and tackle.
Fishing line and tackle can harm our sea turtles, and other wildlife, such as birds, manatees, and dolphins, in a variety of ways:
- Entanglement is when line or other debris, such as rope, wraps around the animal’s neck, body, or flippers, causing them to get stuck, drown, lose limbs if circulation is cut off, or die.
- Strangulation is when line wraps around the animals neck, causing them to asphyxiate, or stop breathing, and die due to lack of airflow.
- Fishing tackle, such as hooks, weights, and lures, can also harm wildlife. Sea turtles have been found with tackle inside their bodies that they’ve swallowed, as well as hooks through their eyes and other body parts, causing extensive injuries, both internally and externally.
But, fear not, we have a solution! We recently installed 3 more fishing line recycling tubes in Indian River County, bringing our total tube number up to 44! They are located at Sebastian Canoe Launch, Round Island Boat Ramp, and Wabasso Causeway SW.
These tubes are for your fishing line, whether it is braided or monofilament, and any tackle that may be attached! What these tubes are NOT for is trash. Please place your trash in a trash can and help us keep our tubes clean, safe, and contamination free.
Twice a month, our team of amazing volunteers empties these tubes and we collect the line for our quarterly sorting days, where we sort out the monofilament from the braided line and tackle. The monofilament is sent to Berkeley Center in Spirit Lake, Iowa, where it is melted down into plastic pellets. These pellets are distributed to companies that make plastic products, so that they are able to make their products, such as tackle boxes, from recycled materials instead of producing new plastic pellets! Our next sorting day is June 21st at Wabasso Bait and Tackle Shack from 9-11am. We hope to see you there!
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For more information, visit www.coastal-connections.org, like and follow the socials listed above, or visit our gift shop at 3321 Bridge Plaza Dr, Vero Beach, FL 32963
- Photo by: Jess Patterson – A recently rescued sea turtle with scarring from fishing line that had been wrapped around its neck ↩︎
- Photos by: Olivia Redding – 3 new fishing line recycling tubes in Indian River County. In order, Sebastian Canoe Launch, Round Island Boat Ramp, Wabasso Causeway SW ↩︎
- Photo by: Max Muller – March 15, 2025 Fishing Line Sorting Day ↩︎
