2.3 tonnes of marine debris removed from the Mackay Islands

Last week a team of 9 dedicated volunteers, Tangaroa Blue Foundation staff and Blue Planet Marine crew pulled off 2.3 tonnes from 6 islands in the Mackay region, including Penrith, Digby and Prudhoe Islands. 

Despite being delayed by the weather, the rest of the week they were blessed with calm seas which provided access to south-east facing beaches that hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, if ever. The expedition was part of the 5-year ReefClean project, which focuses on both the removal and prevention of marine debris impacting the Great Barrier Reef.

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Many Hands Make Light Work – March Monitoring Completed!

The end of this week marks the completion of our March quarterly monitoring round! We’d like to thank all of the participants involved in this round, from the staff of South Cape York Catchments, school students in Cooktown, staff at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, members of the Traditional Owner Reference Group in Mackay and as always the many community members choose to volunteer their time!

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Famous fishers cast social challenge to tackle litter

Some of Australia’s most famous fishers are taking to social media to challenge the recreational fishing industry to Look After Your Tackle and tie better knots in a bid to reduce fishing line litter entering the nation’s waterways.

The ReefClean Look After Your Tackle campaign is a joint initiative from OzFish and Tangaroa Blue. The campaign will see some of Australia’s finest recreational fishing influencers and personalities challenging each other to tie the fastest FG Knot to raise awareness about litter in our local waterways.

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Trigger of the butt

It’s one of those things that non-smokers just don’t understand – why smokers can’t just bin their butts. But no matter how many bins, signs, fines and campaigns that are implemented internationally, the old cigarette butt still holds the number one position in the most littered item list.

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Recreational fishers act to tackle litter issue in local waterways

Australia’s leading fishing conservation charity OzFish Unlimited has partnered with Tangaroa Blue Foundation to help recreational fishers tackle rubbish in their local waterways.

From flotsam collecting in saltmarshes to riverbank dumping, from forgotten tackle to microplastics that end up in fish bellies, OzFish and Tangaroa Blue are finding innovative ways to create lasting change and turn around outdated practices of past generations.

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