Fishing line recycling scheme to help Northumberland anglers protect the environment

Northumberland’s fishing authority is backing a new scheme to help protect the county’s coast and marine environment.
Picture c/o PixabayPicture c/o Pixabay
Picture c/o Pixabay

Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NIFCA) is supporting the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme (ANLRS), which was launched in Sussex in 2016 then rolled out nationally last year.

It aims to provide a means for recycling angling line, including braided fishing lines, monofilament and fly lines, setting up an easy way to discard them so that they don’t end up in the marine environment or landfill.

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NIFCA says that it routinely sees angling lines washed up or discarded on beaches throughout its district, which runs from the Tyne up to the Scottish Border, often tangled into balls with other debris.

The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.
The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.

The line is extremely strong, and does not break down easily and is a threat to marine wildlife.

It comes as awareness increases over the plight of the world’s seas, oceans and other waterways at the hands of discarded plastic and other materials.

The authority has donated £500 to the scheme and has purchased bins to be set up in tackle shops and other convenient locations along the coast, to join the 263 tackle shops and more than 70 freshwater fisheries currently signed up nationwide.

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As part of the project, NIFCA has also teamed up with Coast Care, a volunteer-led organisation which carries out beach cleans in the Northumberland AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) and regularly collects large quantities of discarded line from the county’s beaches.

The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.
The bins for angling line which will be appearing in Northumberland.

All litter collected is recorded and so far this year, more than 750 bundles of angling line have been picked up, so the Coast Care team is delighted to be part of the process to recycle this waste.

A spokesman for NIFCA, which is responsible for an area six nautical miles out to sea, said: “This is an excellent initiative and we wish it continued success and support in the future.”

The locations of the bins can be found on the ANLRS website – https://www.anglers-nlrs.co.uk/recycling-locations

All line will be collected and sent to be recycled. Various products have already been manufactured in the UK from the recycled line, spools and single-use plastics, including bins and benches.