March 18, 2022 — Sorry, Charlie: Weak hooks in the Hawai’i deep-set longline fishery for bigeye tuna won’t reduce impacts to false killer whales, scientists said when they met virtually this week.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee found that a National Marine Fisheries Service 2021 “weak hook” study was inconclusive. Further, it did not provide scientific support for adopting weaker hooks as the primary strategy for reducing impacts to false killer whales, the WPRFMC said in a press release.
The study investigated the economic impacts of existing weak (4.5 mm diameter) and comparatively weaker (4.2 mm) hooks on target catch, primarily bigeye tuna. The study results showed the weight and value of bigeye tuna was higher for those caught on existing hooks than the weaker hooks.