Monofilament Madness

Twenty-six years ago Keep Lee County Beautiful Inc. organized its first marine cleanup project. The goal was to address the deplorable problem of monofilament fishing line that had been discarded or left by careless fishermen especially in the mangrove areas. The cleanup was named “Monofilament Madness” for its focus on fishing line and has become one of the top fun cleanups.

The November 2 event includes a volunteer appreciation lunch sponsored by the Galloway Family of Dealerships. This is a water based cleanup that requires a personal watercraft for there are limited number of available kayaks. Volunteers will go out in boats, kayaks, canoes, anything that floats, to remove fishing line and other harmful debris from the mangrove areas of Lee County.

The cleanup will take place at four locations: the Mound House on Fort Myers Beach, Salty Sam’s Marina, Gulf Coast Kayak in Matlacha, and Bunche Beach. Visit the Keep Lee County Beautiful website at http://klcb.org/monofilament-madness.html to register and for additional details.

Keep Lee County Beautiful advises boaters and fishermen to not let any trash blow overboard, and use a fishing net to retrieve it if it does as well as any other trash. For any smokers, use a metal boater’s ashtray to hold the butts. Also, try to retrieve any caught fishing line. By doing these things, boaters make it better for all enjoying the beautiful water of Southwest Florida and helps to save the wildlife.