The Gold Coast Bulletin

A REEL SHOCKER

Fishing rubbish pollutes waterways, kills wildlife

- KRISTY MUIR AND AMANDA ROBBEMOND

Fiona Byres collected this massive ball of fishing line from Tallebudge­ra Creek over the past 18 months. Fiona, with children Kali and Soma, also gathers lost and discarded hooks, sinkers and lures that wreak havoc on wildlife.

A GOLD Coast woman has collected 20km of fishing line from Tallebudge­ra Creek in just 18 months, highlighti­ng the extent of pollution in one of the city’s postcard attraction­s.

Every week Fiona Byres of Burleigh Waters combs creek banks and the water for anything left behind by fishermen including hooks, lures, swivels and sinkers.

“If I didn’t pick it up, who would?” Mrs Byres said.

“I think people are a bit time poor and believe it is not their problem.

“But it can be as simple as picking up a discarded plastic bottle or lid and putting it in the bin.”

Mrs Byres said she was inspired to take action after one of the ducks that regularly visited her family yard got a hook through its bill.

She contacted volunteer group Wild Bird Rescues Gold Coast and met co-ordinator Rowley Goonan.

“It took a couple of days but Rowley caught the duck and took it to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary,” she said.

“He also came back with the duck and released it.”

Currumbin Wildlife Hospital senior veterinari­an Dr Michael Pyne said he regularly received animals with fishingrel­ated injuries.

“It’s a massive problem,” Dr Pyne said.

“What we see is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We see the lucky few animals ... it’s constant.”

Dr Pyne said birds often suffered a slow death after becoming wrapped in fishing line.

He said it cost around $1500 per animal to remove hooks or fishing line through surgery.

He encouraged local fisherman to bring injured animals to the hospital.

If an animal was inadverten­tly hooked, he said the rescuer should leave a long length of line for the vets to work with.

IT’S simple, really. The most effective way to prevent wildlife from dying a slow and agonising death after being tangled in fishing gear is for anglers to stop dumping their hooks and lines.

Carelessly discarding fishing line takes just an instant, but the consequenc­es along the city’s beaches and rivers are measured in the hours, days or even weeks it takes for an entangled bird to die.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then the photograph the Bulletin has published today of the Burleigh Waters family who have spent 18 months trying to clean up the rubbish left by anglers in Tallebudge­ra Creek speaks plenty.

The Byers family and others who volunteer their time and effort to find and remove litter from the streams, mangroves and beaches are to be commended for their remarkable public spirit and desire to protect the environmen­t.

But we’re sure they would prefer not to have to go to the extremes they do to remove other people’s rubbish.

Some years ago the Bulletin reported how it took firefighte­rs and wildlife experts three hours to free a female osprey that had become tangled in fishing line. There is no argument that such an operation should have been undertaken, but the cost to the community was significan­t.

A previous operation involving the same site had not gone well when rescuers discovered the nest was full of fishing line and that two chicks had thrown themselves out in a tragic bid to free themselves.

The cost, the wasted hours and the loss of animal and bird life can so easily be avoided if not only fishermen but all Gold Coasters dispose of rubbish properly.

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