Islander spearheads seabird campaign

Local wildlife rehabilitator Jeannie Bystrom is advancing her cause to the county level, and soon, she hopes, to the state.

Bystrom is lobbying for local legislation to ban fishing from bridges using multiple-hook rigs in order to protect seabirds. Her efforts have resulted in legislation in Holmes Beach and now an education campaign across Manatee County.

“It takes a long time because there’s so much red tape, but at least it’s moving now,” she said.

Bystrom met Dec. 30 with Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, charter fishing guide Capt. Scott Moore and county director of parks and natural resources Charlie Hunsicker.

The group met at the insistence of Bystrom to advance an education campaign and possibly wider legislation.

David Pilston, CEO of Save Our Seabirds, a bird education and rehabilitation center in Sarasota, contributed 3,000 “Don’t cut the line” pamphlets to further the cause. The pamphlets direct fishers not to cut the line if they hook a bird and offer instructions on how to safely free the bird.

“It’s a gruesome thing. We’re trying to educate people anyway we can,” Pilston said.

Bystrom plans to locate spots throughout the county for distribution. She will then send the list to Hunsicker for approval and placement.

In addition to the pamphlets, a donor with Save Our Seabirds offered to sponsor signage alerting fishers of the risks of lines and hooks to birds on bridges.

Pilston said Save Our Seabirds, Bystrom and her veterinarian husband, Bill Bystrom, had a “unique symbiotic relationship” preceding the education campaign.

They have shared their resources to rehabilitate seabirds, Pilston said. The Bystroms have two animal hospitals for treating serious injuries and Save Our Seabirds has a rehabilitation center.

One of Bystrom’s main targets of distribution is at the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park in St. Petersburg. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation and Parks, the pier is the longest fishing pier in the world.

The length, height and location are a dangerous combination for seabirds that meet fishers, Bystrom said.

Bystrom untangled 235 birds in 2014, with the majority coming from the Skyway fishing piers. She said birds often get tangled when diving for bait. Pelicans tend to mingle under the bridge and dive for the baitfish that congregate there.

The bridge’s height makes it difficult for anglers to reel up the birds. Certain types of hooks also increase the chances and severity of tangling when cast from high bridges, Bystrom said.

“It’s amazing that some of these birds are still alive, the way they’re all wrapped up,” she said.

Sabiki rigs or multiple-hook rigs are the most dangerous to the seabirds, she said. The rigs are most commonly used for catching baitfish, and have hooks spaced along the same line several inches apart with a weight at the end.

The legislation she hopes to advance statewide would ban those types of rigs from being used on bridges and piers over a certain height.

“We don’t want people to freak think out thinking we’re taking their rights on their boats away or on their dock. We’re just talking about bridges that are so tall that they can’t pull the birds in,” she said.

Bystrom said the group plans to develop wording for legislation that would ban the multiple hook lures that could be presented to lawmakers in Tallahassee at the end of January.

“We’re going to talk to the people in the state because of what’s going on here and in other jurisdictions,” she said.

How to unhook a pelican

The National Audubon Society provides information to fishers on how to unhook a bird if accidentally snagged by a fishing line.

The step-by-step guide tells people how to safely remove a hook from a bird.

• Enlist a partner to help you release the bird. Extra hands and tools are useful. Put on sunglasses or other eye protection.

• Reel the bird in slowly and evenly. Jerking the line will increase injury.

• Grasp the bird firmly and cover its head with a towel, shirt or hat to calm it.

• Hold the beak firmly and slightly open so the bird can breath easily. Fold the wings gently and firmly against the bird’s body.

• Cut the barb from the hook by carefully pushing it through to expose it and cut it off with wire cutters.

• Back the rest of the hook out.

• Before the bird is released, check for other hooks and fishing line.

• If the bird is not seriously wounded, immediately release it. To release the bird, point its head toward the water, away from people and step back. Let it fly away on its own.