By Catherine Ens
Several members and friends of Niagara Action for Animals last year celebrated David Suzuki’s World Ocean’s Day in an ad hoc fashion, by picking up rubbish along the Green Ribbon Trail and Martindale Pond.
Some of the discarded fishing line and other rubbish retrieved around St. Catharines' Martindale Pond.
It was decided to expand this effort and on a regular basis since, we have armed ourselves with buckets, bags & gloves. On a recent Sunday afternoon, eight of us spent a couple of hours retreiving what others decided to throw in and around the water; the ubiquitous take-out coffee cup, pop/beer/beverage cans, cigarette butts, plastic bags, bottles – both broken & intact – and more…. All in all, about 10 buckets full of out and out garbage.
But most unfortunately – we found yards and yards, perhaps miles of fishing line, lures and hooks, tangled into the trees, along the waters edge, among the rocks and even on the ground.
Fishing line and hooks are a distinct threat to all wildlife as they become entangled in the line or injured with the hooks – all thanks to our friend, the fishermen – the ones that would have us believe that they are the conservationists; touting that they are the stewards of the environment & wildlife! Anyone that doubts this only need take a look around any popular fishing spot to find more of the same.
Have a spontaneous pick-up nearby your favourite pond, beach or river; help the wildlife and clean-up at the same time!
(Catherine Ens is a resident of Niagara, Ontario and longtime member of Niagara Action for Animals, a non-profit, all-volunteer group devoted to ending all forms of animal cruelty through education, direct action and protest. For more information visit NAFA’s website at www.niagaraactionforanimals.org.)
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