Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Chief Sustainability Officer Erin Reilley and Chief Bay Constable Mal Nathan recently announced that throughout the past year, the town has collected over 12 cubic feet of monofilament fishing line from receptacles located in six town parks.
The fishing line receptacle initiative was instituted last year and received the Environmental Champion award by the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 for helping to reduce plastics in the waterways, according to a press release from the Town of North Hempstead.
“The addition of these fishing line receptacles to our Town parks has been a true success,” Bosworth said. “Not only are we able to protect birds and other marine creatures from becoming entangled in the fishing line, but we are also helping to reduce the amount of garbage and plastic in our waterways — it is a win-win for everyone.”
All of the fishing line that has been collected will be sent to Berkley Fishing, a company in Iowa that has a program to repurpose the old monofilament into other products or into fish habitat structures.
There is no charge for the recycling of the fishing line, Reilley said.
To view an instructional video on how to make a fishing line receptacle and for free downloadable sticker templates, visit www.northhempsteadny.gov/fishingline.
For more information about the town’s environmental programs, call 311 or (516) 869-6311.
Town reels in 12 cubic yards of line
