Recfishers showed Mandurah waterways some TLC on the weekend by taking part in Mandurah’s Reel It In clean-up event, picking up and bagging up discarded rubbish.
The event saw more than 200 volunteers and 20 scuba divers come together at Dawesville and Creery Wetlands on land and in water with dive volunteers doing their bit.
There was a strong contingent of recfishers at the community clean-up proudly wearing their fishing shirts, including a number of Recfishwest staff, to show recfishers are caring custodians of our precious marine environment.
Having healthy fish habitats is key to having healthy and sustainable recreational fisheries. We participate in, and support, many initiatives such as this that improve fish habitats and the environment.
And, on the day, it was great to see a number of fishers and our good friends from Miami Tackleworld play a leading and visible role in this space.
Collectively, more than 600kg of rubbish was collected, by the fishing community as well as staff and volunteers from Mandurah cruises, Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, Keep Australia Beautiful WA, Coastal Waste Warriors, City of Mandurah, Oceano Dive Centre, John Tonkin College, Estuary Guardians Mandurah and River Guardians.
“There are no stronger advocates for healthy aquatic environments than recreational fishers as we truly care about the environment in which we fish” Recfishwest Operations Manager Leyland Campbell said.
“Whether it’s by pushing hard to protect water quality and habitat, minimise rubbish and pollution in our aquatic environment, or volunteering to participate in habitat restoration projects, it’s through actions like these, we can answer those who try to question our environmental and conservationist credentials.
“Every user of the aquatic resource needs to take responsibility and clean up after themselves and it was great to see a good show by recfishers over the weekend.”
This is a timely reminder to safely dispose of all fishing lines in tackle line disposal bins provided at many local jetties or keep your rubbish securely on board or in your tackle box until it’s safe to dispose of it.
Recfishwest works in partnership with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and Native Animal Rescue to protect fishing environments, with widespread support of the successful ‘Reel It In’ fishing line disposal bin program.
Find out more about Reel It In here
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