Catch Fish – Not Birds with Fishing Line

Fishing Line, Hooks, and Nets Poses Serious Threat to Birds and Wildlife

Fishing season is here, so please don’t carelessly discard fishing lines, hooks, and netting that wreak havoc on birds and other wildlife.

When a bird gets entangled in the fishing line, a painful struggle ensues.  Birds suffer permanent damage to skin, feathers, muscles, nerves, and bones from the constricting line as they fight to escape.

Entangled birds are often entrapped and can’t find food or escape from predators.  And for bird parents, this affects the survival of their reliant chicks.

If the bird is unable to free itself, this deadly entrapment leads to exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration, and requires human assistance.

Don’t Fish for Birds

The fishing line is meant to catch fish, not birds.

Thousands of birds are injured or killed each year when they become tangled in man-made materials, like fishing lines.

When a bird ingests a fishing hook, it can lodge into the side of the bird’s beak, mouth, esophagus, or stomach causing internal bleeding, regurgitation of food, tissue damage, and death.

If fishing hooks or sinkers are made from lead, they can cause severe toxicity in raptors called lead poisoning.  So it’s important when you’re fishing to always properly dispose of unwanted fishing gear.  And when out birding or hiking and see fishing line, please pick it up and put it in a trash receptacle that wildlife can’t get into.

For all the fishermen out there, a reminder that “Texas Rigged” hooks are far less likely to hook wildlife or get snagged on and break off pieces of weeds.with the emphasis on invasive weeds that propagate from broken pieces. 

If you do find an injured bird, please go to the LAA home page and click on the button that says “Wildlife Rehab” for local rescue resources.  

We thank you and the wildlife of Lake Attitash thanks you!