Seal the Loop campaign

You can help save local wildlife by keeping waste out of the marine environment.

Thousands of marine birds, mammals, reptiles and fish are killed or injured each year due to entanglements in poorly discarded fishing line and other plastic waste. Seal the Loop provides the community with the opportunity to help save marine wildlife through providing specially designed Seal the Loop bins for installation in fishing locations on Victoria’s coastline.

What’s the story?

Plastic waste, particularly fishing line, poses a threat to marine wildlife when not disposed of responsibly. Most plastic waste continues to threaten wildlife long after it has been discarded. As a result, thousands of animals, such as seals, suffer from entanglement and ingestment every year, with only a small proportion ever found. Specially designed bins, made from recycled plastics collected at Melbourne Zoo, encourage positive recycling behaviours from our visitors and facilitate the appropriate disposal of fishing waste when they are installed at popular fishing locations.

Campaign objectives

• Raise awareness of the threats that waste poses to marine wildlife
• Reduce marine wildlife entanglement rates
• Encourage onsite recycling, consequently reducing the amount of waste generated at Melbourne Zoo.

Facilitating conservation action

Zoos Victoria makes saving marine wildlife such as seals easy by providing plastic recycling bins at Melbourne Zoo where visitors can contribute to the creation of Seal the Loop bins and ensure their plastics never end up in the marine environment. Once installed, Seal the Loop bins operate as tools to educate coast users and as a place where fishing waste can be easily and safely disposed of. Find a Seal the Loop bin near you.

Achievements

A recent study involving 20 Seal the Loop bins recorded the collection of more than 1.5km of fishing line over a five month period. Volunteers involved in the trial at a number of locations have also noticed a reduction in waste onsite since the installation of bins. Zoos Victoria has received a Victorian Government grant, using fishing licensing fees, which will allow for the installation of 60 Seal the Loop bins around Victoria by mid-2012.

Program partners

The program is currently funded by the Victorian Government using Recreational Fishing Licence fees.

• Victorian Government
• Department of Primary Industries