PORTSMOUTH — Aidan Durant didn’t like what he was seeing around the upper pond at Melville Park, so he decided to do something about it. 

“I noticed down at Melville, they had a bunch of fishing line just sitting around on the grass, on the docks and on the trees, and there wasn’t any way to really dispose of it,” said Aidan, an 18-year-old senior at Portsmouth High School, and a member of Troop 82 Portsmouth. 

As part of his Eagle Scout project, he came up with the idea of making fishing line containers for the Melville Park Committee, which manages the 153-acre tract devoted to passive recreation.

“There’s a lot of places with ponds and lakes that do this as well. It’s a really simple project that doesn’t take a lot of effort. It’s just a single pipe with a turn, and a cap,” said Aidan, who invited some younger Scouts to his Dorothy Avenue home recently to make five containers.

They installed one at the upper pond, formally known as Thurston Gray Pond, and also collected fishing line in the area.

“We’re trying to set up a second one across (the pond) at the dock over there. The three extra, we handed them to the Melville Park Committee, and they’re going to decide if they want to put them around here, or down by the lower pond,” said Aidan, who plans on studying computer engineering in college next fall.

The troop hopes the tubes will encourage fishermen to properly dispose of their fishing line, much of which will end up being recycled into other products. 

Single-filament, nylon fishing line that’s unbraided and does not contain wire will eventually be sent to Berkley Fishing. The company recycles the line into tackle boxes, spools for line, fish habitats, and toys. There are also other local fishing shops that will take the recycled line. 

For Aidan, the project was all about protecting the environment.

“It’s good to keep the line off the ground because some of the animals will try to eat the line,” he said. “A couple of weeks ago, a swan got a line stuck around its neck. It didn’t really make it.” 

As the line gets into the water and breaks down, it can also become small enough for fish to eat as well, he said.

Aidan’s father, Troop 82 Scoutmaster Scott Durant, said several businesses made donations toward the project: Crafty One Customs, ArchAngel Charters and Home Depot. 

“We had some good local support for it,” he said.