ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When Beata Dabrowska visits St. Petersburg she spends a lot of time fishing off the Skyway Pier.
“It’s very calming, and you can catch a big fish. Anything is better than being a work,” said Dabrowska.
She said aware of the damage fishing lines can do to pelicans.
“When you are careful, I’m hoping that I will never get the chance to catch a bird,” she said.
But environmental experts said thousands of pelicans and other seabirds do get injured or killed after getting tangled in fishing lines.
FWC wants to work with the public on new regulations for those who fish at the Skyway Pier.
“Especially with the season coming up, there’s a lot of people travel from all over the world to fish in Florida, specifically at the pier. So as long as FWC or other non-profits are out there educating the fisherman on what to do if they actually hook a bird, you want to reel the bird in. You remove the barb and then you release the hook. As long as there are no detrimental injuries, the bird can be released back into the wild,” said Christina Chilbert, Environmental Chair with the Treasure Island Madeira Beach Chamber of Commerce.
FWC is considering no more hook-and-line gear with more than one hook and limiting people to three sets of lines off the pier.
Jenna Byrne, president of the Water Warrior Alliance, said fishing lines are the number one debris they pull out of the gulf when they do clean-ups.
“It’s invisible to the naked eye, and so the birds or any kind of marine species get caught into it, and they are unable to remove entanglement themselves, and so it cuts off circulation to any kind of limbs they have, and so it causes severe injury or death,” said Byrne.
Earlier this year, volunteers removed 24,000 feet of entangled fishing line hanging from the pier.
The virtual workshop will start at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21.
Connect to the meeting by going here and clicking on “Rulemaking: Submit a Comment/Attend a Workshop” and then “Upcoming Public Workshops” and joining the webinar.
If you are fishing and hooking a pelican, FWC said to Reel, Remove, and Release.
If you need help, call the injured bird hotline at 727-391-6211.
