23/06/2005 Results from
the first large-scale testing of specially
designed fishing hooks show that the use of
circle hooks can reduce the number of endangered
sea turtles killed in long line fishing operations
by as much as 90 per cent, said WWF.
The results from the one year research project,
which involved 115 fishing vessels in Ecuador,
were presented at the annual meeting of the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission in
Lanzarotte, Spain.
Incidental death – as a result of traditional
longline fishing operations – is one of the
main reasons for the decline of loggerhead,
and giant leatherback turtles, whose numbers
in the Eastern Pacific have plunged by more
than 90 per cent over the past 20 years.
The results of the study found “bycatch”
was dramatically reduced when the boats replaced
their traditional “J" shaped hooks with
specially designed circle hooks.
“This is a win-win situation. We were looking
for a way to save the turtles without putting
the fishermen out of business," said
Moises Mug, Fisheries Coordinator for WWF’s
Latin America and Caribbean programme.
"The preliminary results indicate we’ve
found it. Circle hooks seem to be an effective
new tool in our efforts to address this urgent
conservation problem.”
Over the past year, Ecuador’s tuna and mahi-mahi
fisheries each tested one large and one small
circle hook. Larger devices reduced the number
of sea turtles that got hooked by 88 per cent
in the tuna fishery and 37 per cent in the
mahi-mahi fishery. The smaller hooks proved
less effective, but still reduced bycatch
rates by 44 and 16 per cent, respectively.
With the survival rate for hooked turtles
factored into the results, researchers estimated
that the circle hooks reduced sea turtle mortality
by 63 to 93 per cent in the tuna fishery and
41 to 93 per cent in the mahi-mahi fishery,
depending on the size of the hook used.
Also encouraging was that catch rates for
tuna were almost identical regardless of whether
circle or J hooks were used. The catch rate
was lower in the mahi-mahi fishery, however,
and researchers said further refinement of
fishing gear and better training of fishermen
would be needed to close the gap.
NOTES:
• WWF is now conducting or supporting turtle
conservation work in 45 countries and is engaged
in every major international turtle conservation
policy discussion underway. In the eastern
Pacific, WWF has a long history of constructive
engagement in the bycatch reduction work of
IATTC, and is now formally represented on
the Commission. In the western Pacific, WWF
has helped shape the new Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission policies, which
will be important in reducing turtle bycatch
in longline fisheries.
• Scientists estimate that as many as 200,000
loggerheads and 50,000 leatherbacks are caught
annually by commercial longline tuna, swordfish,
and other fisheries.
