Circle Hook/ J-Hook Controversy

[Reel Fanatic]

As most of you already know, the circle hook regulation is on temporary hold. DMS is accepting petitions from watermen and industry related manufacturers to hear our side of the story. The study that was conducted that resulted in the circle hook regulation was a very limited study at best. Any high school statistics student would have gotten an "F" due to the study population being too small and the initial study being geared towards a predetermined outcome. With all of the heat that they have been recieving over this ruling, now is the time to voice your concerns and be heard!!! Send your opinions stated as professionally as possible to the below e-mail address. Be "to the point" and explain why you feel that this ruling will either be ineffective in it's intended scope or the damage to the industry would far outweigh any drop in billfish mortality rate. As it stands right now, the ruling when put in force will make it mandatory to use circle hooks only for billfishing when dragging natural baits. If you use artificial baits, a "J" hook will be acceptable. If a "J" hook is so bad then why should it be acceptable at all. It just doesn't make any sense. What happens when you are dragging for Mr. Hoo and Mr. Blue comes calling instead? Far stranger things have happened...

mailto:0648-AV25@noaa.gov

[Chasin Tale]

Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to write as to why I appreciate the change. Circle hooks work and I certainly encourage any and all that can, to go to Costa, Isla Mujeres, Panama etc. to see the benefit of those that have experienced the already high hookup %'s and proven survival rate. The local Capts know the truth.
I plan on fishing several NC tournies this year with the Circ's. It will certainly change the playing field and incur more plastic with the J's. It's here and it's time.
Why are so many east coast Marlin tournies still a kill format? Time for change.

Come on guys, it's past time to get onboard. How is it that Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama.... are ahead of our conservation efforts?

[Deep C]

The problem sems to lie not with short term survival. The long term is really a question mark. Almost all fish released are done so with that hook in the mandible. It has been documented that giant tuna recapured with circles in them have foar poorer quality flesh, basically emaciated, and almost all have had jaws inflamed to the point of not being able to eat...

The one study that was so slanted was done on 20 fish and yes very much so predetermined. The NMFS one covered 2000+ interactions with mostl sailfish and the injury rate for circles versus, J at dropback intervals of 5-10 seconds which is what most people use was negligible... .49% incident rate for J versus .47 for circle... Thats 2 in 1000 fish more impacted...

Funny how supposedly half of the sails down here are released on circle yet I don't know of anyone who has recaptured a single fish with a circle attached , yet its common to recapture 3-6 fish a season with J hooks still in them...

[Reel Fanatic]

Capt. Jamie-

I respect your opinion and I posted this link with the full awareness that plenty of people might not agree with me. By all means make yourself heard. This controversy about "J" hooks and circle hooks though isn't about kill tournaments versus tag tournaments. It's about restricting the tools at a fisherman's disposal which may or may not amount to a hill of beans difference in the mortality rate of released fish. The particularly worrysome side of this is whether or not this is a slippery slope measure that will spill over into other fisheries. What happens if they decide that this ruling needs to cover any and all recreational billfishing as well as any type of fishing that could result in the hooking of a billfish- such as trolling for wahoo or tuna? Where does it stop? Will there eventually be a moratorium on fishing "J" hooks past certain distances off the coastline? Furthermore, using a "J" hook doesn't equate to killing a fish. Countless billfish are caught and realeased unharmed on "J" hooks every year.

At the end of the day what matters most is whatever is truly best for the resource. If this ruling stands then our envy-of-the-world free market system will kick into high gear and some smart fisherman will come up with a better way to build the mousetrap which will give us all the best of both worlds....(and later on that same year it will be stolen and sent to China to be made for pennies on the dollar ). Fish on and best of luck in your tournaments.