I try to educate as an onshore volunteer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I try to pitch in by organizing beach cleans and by picking up trash during my own beach strolls. I try to use social media as a tool for change with a Facebook page, For the Oceans.

Single-use consumer plastic waste is a major concern – no big surprise there. But lately what I am finding more than straws or plastic bags are fishing rope and lobster-claw rubber bands, things that are clearly by-products of Maine’s fishing industry.

This saddens me. It saddens me because I see news stories of entangled whales perishing off the coast of Maine. It saddens me that people whose livelihoods come from the ocean are not taking responsibility for generations to come and do not see the inherent value of marine wildlife.

I know there are fishermen and women doing the right thing out there. But their efforts are in the shadows of the debris washing up on the shore every day, threatening marine wildlife by ingestion and entanglement.

I ask readers to consider this issue. Think twice before using single-use plastic; bring a travel mug, buy a reusable water bottle, request a strawless beverage. If you fish or lobster, please think about what ends up overboard and what we are leaving to future generations.

Pick up trash when you see it rather than walking past it. There is no act too small to make an impact on our oceans.

Angela May Bell

Portland

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