New fishing hooks protect Gulf bluefin

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service on Friday announced new requirements for fishermen who fish for yellowfin tuna, swordfish and other species with longlines in the Gulf of Mexico.

Starting 5 May, fishermen are now required to use a new type of hook, called a weak hook, designed to reduce the incidental catch of Atlantic bluefin tuna.

The weak hook is a circular hook constructed of thin gauge wire, and is designed to straighten when a large fish is hooked, releasing it but holding on to smaller fish.. The average size of Bluefin tuna landed in the Gulf of Mexico longline fishery is 485 pounds, while the average yellowfin tuna is about 86 pounds.

By putting the rule into effect during the spring 2011 bluefin spawning season, NOAA is also following recommendations by the scientific committee for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The committee advised ICCAT to protect the western Atlantic bluefin tuna that were spawned in 2003 and will soon be reaching maturity and beginning to spawn themselves. Scientific data indicates that this is the largest year’s class of bluefin since 1974.

“NOAA worked with longline fishermen from the Gulf to test the weak hook carefully over the last three years,” said Eric Schwaab, NOAA assistant fisheries administrator. “Our cooperative scientific research with fishermen is showing that this new technology can protect bluefin tuna in the Gulf while still allowing fishermen to target yellowfin tuna and swordfish.”

“During our tests, we used regular hooks for half our hooks and half were the new weak hooks,” added Mike Carden, a longline fisherman from Panama City, Fla., who took part in the research. “We were so happy with the weak hooks we quit using the heavy hooks. The weak hook releases fish we don’t want to catch. Because it’s smaller and lighter, we catch more yellowfin tuna on the weak hook. There’s several of us who have gone to the weak hook.”

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