Toray biodegradable fishing line & lure
by TreeHugger on 12. 4.04
FieldMate fishing line is made of biodegradable polymer. After about 3 months in salt or fresh water, it decomposes through the enzymatic reactions of naturally occurring microorganisms, before eventually being reduced to water and carbon dioxide. Additionally, Toray make a biodegradable fishing lure - a worm, called the Trebiomer. It also breaks down under hydrolytic and bacterial action. The Fieldmate line comes in various weights and is about ¥1,451 or $14USD per 100m.
Although hitting the market back in 1996, neither the line (nor the worm) appear to be readily accessible, outside of Toray’s home of Japan. But there is a need for wider distribution, as The Pacific Whale Foundation point out - 100,000 metric tons of mono-filament lines and fishing gear are dumped into the ocean each year. Whales, dolphins, turtles and seabirds die from ingesting or getting tangled in plastic products such as fishing line. For example, they reference a study that showed 90% of surveyed albatrosses had plastics in their intestines. ::Toray [by WM]
Does anyone know how to get hold of this outside Japan?
Toray does not make this product anymore. It was unsuccessful.
This other BioLINE will be on the market soon.
The Toray lines is not available in the US - but there is a new BioDegradable line at http://gofastandlight.com in their fishing section.
The exact link for the bioline is
http://www.gofastandlight.com/BioDegradeable-Fishing-Line/productinfo/FI-B-BIOX/
I've been following along and researching this for a while now. I can't find the article now, but, I don't think Toray ever got US distribution for FieldMate and I'm pretty sure the product has been discontinued. It could still be around in Japan-- but I haven't seen a single source for it here in the US (and believe me, I've looked).
In any case, as was pointed out, the Company Bioline has released it's product, Biofilament Fishing Line, this year and it is pretty exciting. It will degrade in about 5 years as opposed to up to 600 years for monofilament line. I'm stocking it at Green Tackle.
If you throw a biodegradable "Eco Weight" from South Bend and one of FoodSource's biodegradable lures or Berkely Gulp! (similar to plastics currently used) or biodegradable Trout Bait on your Biofilament line, you've got a pretty "green" setup for fishing!