As the weather warms, many of us are heading outdoors to fish in the sun.
When you do, though, spare a moment to consider the conservation of endangered green sea turtles by learning how to dispose of tackle properly.
Tania Rossiter is working with Hunter Wildlife Rescue to help keep these creatures safe. She said the main culprit of injury for dozens of Lake Macquarie turtles each year is fishing line.
"Fishing line gets tangled around a flipper and turtles lose that flipper or they swallow the line. It gets tangles around their intestines and just lacerates them," Ms Rossiter said.
"Not long ago, I picked up a perfectly healthy young turtle and he had fishing line coming out of his bum," she said. "He had gurgling coming from his nose and mouth. There is nothing you can do for them except put them down."
The good news is, you can help turtles before their outlook becomes this bleak.
If you hook a turtle while fishing, do not panic. Try to reel them in slowly and pick them up by their shell - not via the line.
You should then cut the fishing line and leave about 40 centimetres attached to the turtle. Clean their shell and tape the line to it, preventing them from swallowing more - but make sure the turtle can move their head.
If there is any fishing line around the turtle's flipper, this should be left to prevent germs getting in and the flipper turning septic.
The final step is to call Hunter Wildlife Rescue on 0418 628 483 for someone to help rehabilitate the turtle.
Ms Rossiter hopes to work widely with the community on this for the benefit of the turtles.
"We are talking about an endangered species here," she said.
Green sea turtles - the most common species in Lake Macquarie - have been endangered in the South Pacific since the 1970s.
"We want to save as many as we can. They need to breed, make babies, and grow in population," Ms Rossiter said.
