cutting fishing line

[TheWetRookie]

If you run across fishing line while diving, do you cut the line or leave alone/there? Or would it depend on the circumstances?

I have come across a bit of line now and because of where and how it was situated I thought it would be safer to leave it where it was rather than risking cutting it and getting entangled myself or having the part that I was not able to remove floating around and someone else gets entangled.

Thought?

 

[JBRES1]

Good question.
This past summer I was diving off of Charleston S.C. on a ship that was full of line.
I cut the lines that were in areas that divers could exit the ship, and left intact the lines that ran along side the ship.
Don't know if what I did helped, but I felt better.
Jim Breslin

 

[Guba]

The line ya'll are talking about is probably a lot different than the type my friends and I encounter in freshwater lakes (yours is probably much heavier). Our general rule is if we are going to wrap up and carry the line we cut out, then we cut and carry. Otherwise, we leave it alone. There are a few situations when we don't do it this way. For example, we might cut the line and secure it to a fixed object on the bottom. This is usually done only when we perceive a specific immediate threat but we aren't able to carry the line out.

 

[texdiveguy]

I leave it alone 99% of the time.

 

[jscott099]

Generally don't have time to mess with it. I cut it if its in my way or might be a safety issue for myself or others I am diving with (NC coast wreck dives) on that particular dive. Even the act of cutting it creates new risk of tangles, wasted bottom time. If I cut a section out, I always stuff it in the goodie pouch and haul it out.

 

[Garrobo]

How about this. Designate a day to clean up your favorite dive area or wreck. Then a dive team can concentrate on ridding the area or fish line, bottles, cans etc.