- WA company develops biodegradable burley and lobster bait boxes
- The new product paves the way for cleaner recreational fishing
- It is predicted there will be more plastics in the world's oceans than fish by 2050
An innovative new Western Australian product is set to reduce the amount of plastics required for recreational fishing bait, significantly reducing the potential impact on the environment.
Recfishwest, in partnership with Mendolia Seafoods, has developed biodegradable bait boxes that are filled with fish waste that can be used as fish burley or lobster baits. The new bait boxes do not have plastic lining, or any internal plastic bag to contain the frozen bait, like other bait boxes do.
The bait product itself is made from local fish waste, like sardine by-products, and will result in less fish waste heading to landfill and the new packaging means there is no need to take plastic bags out when fishing.
This is an exciting alternative bait product for the 140,000 Western Australians who fish from a boat each year.
Research from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation released in 2016 predicted that by 2050 there would be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans.
Prior to the McGowan Government introducing a plastic bag ban on July 1, 2018, Western Australians used more than 670 million plastic bags a year, with about seven million ending up in the environment as litter.
The bait boxes will be available from selected retail outlets.
