Western Bay of Plenty residents are being asked to clean up after themselves when fishing, with the Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre caring for many birds this summer with hook-related injuries.

More than 50 birds are brought to ARRC each year, and co-ordinator Larissa Ansorge says most cases are related to fishing gear injuries, which are easily avoidable.

ARRC is asking anglers to clean up after themselves to stop birds being injured from fishing gear.

Larissa says another shag was dropped at ARRC last week, and has been released back to nature after they removed a large fishing hook and line from its wing.

'We have a lot of shags and seagulls and other sea birds that either have hooks or lines tangled around them,” says Larissa. 'Sometimes we even have a couple of them a week.”

Larissa says summer fishing season and the 'baby bird season” are worse for incidences, prompting her to beg the community to clean up after themselves when they go fishing.

Between one-third and one-half of the birds brought to ARRC with fishing hook related injuries die – and Larissa says it's an easy fix.

'The best thing is to take all your gear with you, and if you're throwing fish back make sure you take the hooks out of them.

'Pretty much just make sure you take everything with you.”

The most common injury to seabirds in particular is swallowed hooks, followed by hooks in wings and feet. Seabirds commonly swallow hooks when they are left in a fish, or part of a fish has been left on the hook.

Sometimes, swallowed hooks are too well lodged, or the injury is too old, and ARRC has to humanely put the bird down.

Larissa says this is better than if the bird had been left to slowly starve. And the problem isn't specific to one area, but is spread across Tauranga and further afield.

The issue has become great enough that ARRC has published an educational book titled ‘Sheldon's Fishing Fiasco' to teach children about issues such as this one – birds getting caught on fish hooks.