Saving Seafood

New rules mandate circle hooks to protect dusky sharks

February 28, 2017 — The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has officially made final some new recreational shark fishing regulations to fulfill a legal obligation they have to provide additional conservation for dusky sharks which will likely take effect in 2018.

The news will probably confuse some anglers who know a thing or two about shark fishing and shark regulations as dusky sharks have been a no-take-prohibited species for more than a decade.

So how could they, and why would they initiate new fishing regulations for a fish anglers are not allowed to fish for in the first place?

The short answer to that question is that according to the (very questionable) catch data that NMFS has to work with, recreational anglers along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico are catching and keeping a fair number of dusky sharks that they mistakenly think are legal species of sharks.

According to NMFS, even though the reported number of dusky sharks harvested is low, they are required by law to do something that will help reduce the mortality of these sharks by the recreational fishery.

Read the full story at DelmarvaNow

New York State extends restrictions on hooks for shark fishing

July 26, 2016 — ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state will require fishermen use circle hooks for catching sharks for two more years in an effort to protect them.

A new law continues the ban on shark fishing with the traditional J-hooks that sharks are considered likelier to swallow, potentially gutting them.

The ban continues through 2018. Circle hooks are bent farther toward the hook’s shaft than J-shaped hooks, nearly forming a circle.

In his sponsor’s memo, Assemblyman Fred Thiele, a Long Island independent, said several shark species are endangered and others are threatened with worldwide populations dwindling.

“Scientific studies predict higher survival rates for released fish when circle hooks and catch-and-release techniques are used, as circle hooks are more likely to hook a fish in the mouth rather than the gut,” Thiele wrote. They’re also easier to remove than J-hooks, can reduce potential harm to the fish and have been well received by the fishing industry, he wrote.

Read the full story from the Associated Press in the Connecticut Post