Fish Hooks vs Wildlife, Pt I

So I’ve been trying to understand both why it happens and what can be done. Fishing is a very popular sport here in Hawaii, and one of the most popular is Ulua fishing (known as giant trevally in other parts of the world). These are big, beautiful game fish, it’s easy to see why they are so prized. But there’s no telling what will take the ulua bait and hook – and too often it’s a little shark instead of the far more desirable ulua. Not much can be done about that. And let's be clear – these fishermen are likely NOT looking for shark fins – that is an entirely different issue. I doubt they want to hook little sharks any more than the sharks want to be hooked. No, the question is about the release – can the hook be removed? If not, what happens to the shark (or turtle, or seal) after? What can be done to minimise the damage? I would of course prefer that the hook be removed before release, but NOAA has been doing a lot of work with local fishermen, and say that while fishermen try to get the hooks out, its not always possible. (Being realistic, we can hardly blame the fishermen for not wanting to put their hand in an injured sharks mouth...)

So if we can’t stop the sharks (and turtles and seals) from swallowing hooks, and the fishermen are unable to unhook the errant animal, what can be done to help? Happily, there is something that authorities in both fishing and conservation agree on – the type of hooks used can greatly improve the survival of a mistakenly hooked animal without lowering the catch rate. They're called barbless circle hooks, and in the next few posts I'll tell you about them, J-hooks and circle hooks…read Part II here!