Tackling Fishing Waste With New Rig Recycle Bins

The Rig Recycle concept was developed by Tangaroa Blue Foundation and is an initiative of ReefClean. It was developed to help overcome issues such as pollution from discarded fishing gear, while also reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

In an Australian first, it is now possible to recycle your unwanted fishing tackle at all Queensland BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing stores through a new recycling pilot.

Tangaroa Blue Foundation in partnership with fishing conservation charity OzFish Unlimited  launched the program together with BCF who are opening their doors for recreational fishers to bring in their old, unwanted or recovered fishing tackle and dispose of it in purpose-built Rig Recycle bins.

Read more “Tackling Fishing Waste With New Rig Recycle Bins”

ReefClean Mural at Causeway Lake a success – Fishing Tackle Litter reduced by 80%

Capricornia Catchments partnered with Tangaroa Blue through the ReefClean Program along with Livingstone Shire Council to engage local artists Martin Schlick from Mash Designs and emerging artist Rebecca Johnston to create educational murals for the Causeway Lake Buildings.

The murals aim at reducing fishing tackle pollution at Causeway Lake. With help from BirdLife Capricornia, these murals highlight the significant, rare, and sensitive wildlife that relies on the area and the impact litter and fishing tackle litter has on wildlife.

In conjunction with the artwork, several clean-ups in the area were undertaken to collect data and monitor the effectiveness of the mural on users’ litter behaviour.

 

 

 

 

 

Results show that there has been a significant reduction in litter and marine debris volume. Fishing tackle specific litter has reduced by 80% and general litter showed a major decrease of 49% overall.

Capricornia Catchments also received anecdotal feedback from community members saying that they have noticed a positive difference in the cleanliness of the Causeway Lake recreational area.

Overall successful results in reducing litter at the Causeway Lake recreational area through the combination of artwork, collaboration and community involvement. However, ongoing work is still needed in the area.

This project would not have been possible without the ongoing support from Livingstone Shire Council, the Regional Artist Development Fund, Tangaroa Blue Foundation and ReefClean.

ReefClean is funded by the Australian Governments Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.

Tackling Bait Bags and Light Sticks

Tangaroa Blue Foundation has been working with Oceanwatch Australia to develop two Source Reduction Plans focused on fishing-related bait bags and professional fishing-related light sticks as part of the ReefClean Program. Both projects have been designed through conducting a source analysis approach rather than working from a littering reduction perspective. This approach was used to allow for the adoption of new innovations which can work alongside traditional behaviour change mechanisms to do the right thing reducing the incidence of bait bags and chemical light sticks recorded on waterways.

Read more “Tackling Bait Bags and Light Sticks”

ReefClean – Cape Kimberley Clean-up, Daintree QLD

What: Cape Kimberley (Daintree) clean-up
When: 25th October | 8:30am-1:30pm
Where: Meeting point Cape Kimberlely car park
To register: email jules@tangaroablue.orgwith us from Cairns.If you live in the Daintree, or just planning a visit, why not come along to help out with our quarterly clean-up at the lovely Cape Kimberley? Come and join other volunteers to make a practical contribution to the health of the marine and coastal environment.

Meeting at the Cape Kimberlely car park at 8:30am. Contact us if you would like to travel north with us from Cairns.
We will spend the day cleaning up the beach and recording the marine debris we find into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) database.

 

Volunteers need to wear enclosed shoes, bring sun protection, and plenty of drinking water (1 to 2 litres is recommended). We try to ensure that all Tangaroa Blue events are free from single-use plastic, so bring along your reusable water bottle. All equipment and drinking water top-ups will be provided.

 

To register or for any questions, please email jules@tangaroablue.org.

 

This event is part of the ReefClean program, aiming to clean-up and reduce the volume of marine debris generated in or entering the Great Barrier Reef. ReefClean is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and is delivered by the Tangaroa Blue Foundation

 

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Please note this is a COVID Safe Event with limited places – we do require volunteers to register. Please ensure that you check the latest QLD Government COVID requirements https://www.qld.gov.au/…/public…/movements-gatherings – and if you feel unwell – please don’t attend and stay at home – we’ll catch you on another event later in the year ?

Marine Debris Sorting Day – Gladstone

What: Marine Debris Sorting Day
When: Thursday 15th October | 9am-4pm
Where:  Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) Alf O’Rourke Drive, Gladstone Marina (next door to Curtis Ferry Services)
To register please contact jodi@tangaroablue.org or call Ian on 0458 737 760

Join us in sorting and counting marine debris removed from Curtis and Facing Island clean-ups, and diverting as much waste as possible from landfill. All data collected on the day will be entered into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) database.

Collecting this information helps us identify what materials are ending up on our local beaches, where it is coming from and what we can put in place to prevent it from entering our oceans in the first place.

Normally this activity would be done as part of the clean-up, but this gives us a better opportunity to recycle / up-cycle any items to minimise the amount of material going to landfill.

Free smoko & lunch will be provided to volunteers
Please wear enclosed shoes and bring a refillable water bottle

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All our events comply with COVID 19 restrictions current at the time of the event, so participation will depend on the travel restrictions in place at the time. Tangaroa Blue will be adhering to the latest advice from the QLD Government on COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines.

This event has limited places – we do require volunteers to register. Please ensure that you check the latest QLD Government COVID requirements for gatherings  and if you feel unwell – please don’t attend and stay at home – we’ll catch you on another event later in the year 🙂

To express an interest in attending and join the mailing list for more information, send an email to johanna@tangaroablue.org.

This event is being funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust.

 

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