A Comparison of Circle Hook and J Hook Performance in a Western Equatorial Atlantic Ocean Pelagic Longline Fishery

Authors

J. C. Pacheco, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - Brazil
David W. Kerstetter, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Fabio H.V. Hazin, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - Brazil
R. S. S. L. Segundo, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - Brazil
John E. Graves, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
F. Carvalho, Florida Museum of Natural History; University of Florida - Gainesville
P. E. Travassos, Nova Southeastern University

ORCID

0000-0002-4440-8767

ResearcherID

I-5396-2012

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Fisheries Research

ISSN

0165-7836

Publication Date

1-2011

Keywords

Pelagic longline, Bycatch, Circle hooks, Survival

Abstract

Catch composition, catch rates, hooking location, and status at release at haulback were monitored during 81 experimental sets (launches and hauling fishing per day) in a commercial pelagic longline fishery targeting tuna in the equatorial South Atlantic Ocean. Circle hooks (size 18/0, 0° offset) and J-style hooks (size 9/0, 10° offset) with squid baits were deployed in an alternating fashion. The catch composition was not significantly different for most species between the two types of hooks, except for bigeye tuna, which showed a significantly higher proportion of catches on the circle hook (p ≫ 0.001) and for sailfish, pelagic stingray, and leatherback sea turtle, which had higher catch rates on the J-style hook (p = 0.018, p ≫ 0.001, and p = 0.044, respectively). Bigeye and yellowfin tuna showed significantly higher rates of survival at the time of gear retrieval with circle hooks, and circle hooks hooked bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, swordfish, and sailfish significantly more often externally than internally. Our results suggest that the use of size 18/0, 0° offset circle hooks in the equatorial pelagic longline fishery may increase the survival of bycatch species at the time of gear retrieval with minimal effects on the catches of target species.

DOI

10.1016/j.fishres.2010.10.003

Volume

107

Issue

1-3

First Page

39

Last Page

45

Comments

©2010 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NSUWorks Citation

J. C. Pacheco, David W. Kerstetter, Fabio H.V. Hazin, R. S. S. L. Segundo, John E. Graves, F. Carvalho, and P. E. Travassos. 2011. A Comparison of Circle Hook and J Hook Performance in a Western Equatorial Atlantic Ocean Pelagic Longline Fishery .Fisheries Research , (1-3) : 39 -45. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/547.