Save our Tomales Bay – Part 32 roadside fishermen trashing Tomales Bay continues

Please click on the words above “Save our Tomales Bay – Part 32 roadside fishermen trashing Tomales Bay continues” to see this entire post.

Two months ago I wrote about the mess left by roadside fisher-people along route 1 near Tony’s Seafood.

Since then the place has been pretty clean, no large bait boxes or smashed beer bottles to speak of, a great improvement.

Last weekend on my way north to document the removal of the unpermitted structures built by oyster farmers in the Bay, I stopped and went after the small, but no less toxic items, cigarette butts and fishing line.

Picked up 346 butts or filters and enough line and hardware to hook a striped bass (I did not say land one).

If you know people that fish in the area, please ask them kindly to be sure and take away all the items they bring with them to enjoy our lovely coastal environment. Leaving it on the shore is disrespectful, illegal and pretty damn rude. Shall we visit their home and dump trash on their cherished spaces? Ok then!

Leaving this mess degrades the very beauty they come for, and causes great harm to the non-human animals that call Tomales Bay home.

This same logic applies to the boat launch area at Miller Park (Nick’s Cove).

There are thousands of pieces of micro-trash left behind by fishermen, boaters and others who use this public space to recreate.

See what happens to small pieces of plastic that humans dump in the sea, or litter the land with, only to be washed to the sea….

Dead Albatross, killed by ingesting plastic -  by Chris Jordan - where disposable lighters end up.

Dead Albatross, killed by ingesting plastic – by Chris Jordan – where disposable lighters end up.

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The dumpster area is routinely besieged by ravens, crows and raccoons who scour the open dumpster for food, then paint the hillside with plastic bags, food wrappers, fish bait etc.

As always, click on an image to see a lager version.

346 cigarette butts, fishing line, beer bottle caps, food wrappers left by fishermen near Tony's Seafood.

346 cigarette butts, fishing line, beer bottle caps, food wrappers left by fishermen near Tony’s Seafood.

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Fishing line left at Nick's Cove boat launch area

Fishing line left at Nick’s Cove boat launch area

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Fishing line left by fishermen near Tony's Seafood along route 1.

Fishing line left by fishermen near Tony’s Seafood along route 1.

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Comfy, though questionable seating installed at Marconi Cove, along with beer can and oyster shucker packaging. C'mon people, pick up after yerselves!

Comfy, though questionable seating installed at Marconi Cove, along with beer can and oyster shucker packaging. C’mon people, pick up after yerselves!

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Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

6 thoughts on “Save our Tomales Bay – Part 32 roadside fishermen trashing Tomales Bay continues

  1. Kudos, Richard, for once again going out there to clean up the shoreline on Tomales Bay. Last time I went out to Tomales I made a similar, but smaller effort. Inadvertently, I collected some poison oak oil on my skin.

    • Hi Dan,

      Thanks for visiting and for your kind words.

      In an upcoming post about invasive Jubata & Pampas grass that is taking over the coast of California, I’ll share my interactions with one of, if not my least favorite plant, Toxicodendron diversilobum.

  2. 346 butts! A lot more smokers visiting/living in Tomales than Bodega Bay . . . thanks for all your efforts in getting these and the fishing line off the beach Richard. Witnessing the damage done to wildlife by fishing line and hooks is sobering . . .

  3. I always put my butts in my pocket… When I find garbage in beautiful places it breaks my heart and makes me wanna shove it down someone’s throat…which is kinda like what you do with your shameless self promotion and quest to be the savior of the bay. I pick up trash and quietly dispose of it.

    • Thanks for pocketing your butts, Green, I really appreciate that.
      I think if you got to know Richard better, you would be honoured to share your common path (that of “picking up trash and quietly disposing of it”). You would know that Richard has quietly picked up and packed out countless tons of trash for over 40 years. He has literally trashed his car stuffing it with messy garbage multiple times each week, year after year.

      His shameless documentation these few recent years, of the trash we leave behind, is for promotion, but not for self — with hopes of raising awareness, enlisting others in the endless effort, and converting some droppers into pickers. Certainly Richard has focused his life’s work on saving the bay (and the larger sphere), but I know he has no desire to be a “savior.”

      Unfortunately, it is easy to see that the quiet efforts of all of us who read stuff like this are not making a dent in the undoing of our trashing of our world. To have any hope of a world with remnants of beauty and health by the end of this century, we need to engage everyone to do what they can. You and Richard will not be able to do it alone.

      So, let me humbly thank you Green, and Richard, for your continuing efforts on our behalf, and hope that many more will join you.

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