Barbed Hooks Research Articles

Influence of angling methods and terminal tackle on survival of salmon and steelhead caught and released in the Cowlitz River, Washington

Efforts to recover depressed stocks of salmon and steelhead trout in North America include implementation of mark-selective recreational fisheries, whereby anglers are allowed to harvest hatchery-origin fish but must release natural-origin fish. Catch and release angling (C&R) is generally thought to be an effective tool for conservation relative to traditional retention fisheries due to high survival of released adult salmon and steelhead in freshwater. Studies designed to estimate C&R mortality have produced highly variable results among species and size classes of fish, gear types, and environmental conditions. Therefore, crude approximations of C&R mortality are commonly used to quantify impacts to natural-origin salmon and steelhead. In addition, managers often restrict use of certain angling methods and terminal tackle that are assumed to result in higher mortality, leading to a multiplicity of different regulatory requirements with limited empirical support. We conducted a novel three-year mark-recapture study in the Cowlitz River, Washington to estimate effects of a variety of factors hypothesized to influence salmon and steelhead C&R survival using a control-treatment design. Three species of anadromous salmonids were captured and released as treatments using various angling techniques and terminal tackle. Fight time, handling time, and water temperature were recorded during each capture event. Non-angled fish were captured in a trap and released back into the fishery to serve as controls. Recovery rates of Coho Salmon differed less than a percent between angled and non-angled fish across multiple gear types, indicating negligible effects of C&R. Angled Spring Chinook Salmon experienced 3.6–10.2 % C&R mortality relative to non-angled control fish, depending on terminal tackle. Barbless hooks were associated with higher survival than barbed hooks for both Chinook and Coho Salmon, although differences were small for Chinook and negligible for Coho. In contrast, steelhead trout angled on barbed hooks were recovered at slightly higher rates than those caught on barbless hooks. We also found evidence for a reduction in landing rates when angling using barbless hooks. Finally, use of bait increased the probability that salmon would be hooked in a critical location such as the esophagus or stomach. Our findings are useful for assessing trade-offs between conservation measures and harvest opportunity when defining fishing regulations in mark-selective salmon and steelhead fisheries.

The effectiveness of bite-shortened hooks for reducing handling time and injury of small-bodied freshwater fish captured by recreational anglers

Modified bite-shortened hooks show promise for enabling easy handling and rapid release of fish captured by recreational anglers, with the potential to reduce injury and stress of released fish. This study investigated whether bite-shortened modified hooks were effective at improving fish welfare relative to more traditional hook configurations. We evaluated how hook type (jigs vs. Aberdeen), hook length (regular, shortened by 4 mm or shortened by 6 mm), and the presence or absence of a barb influenced the landing rates, handling time, hooking depth, ease of hook removal, and injury of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus). There was significantly more fish landed using jig style (87.7%) than Aberdeen hooks (80.5%). The landing rates varied significantly among hook configurations with standard barbed hooks having the highest landing success (96%) and very bite-shortened hooks having the lowest (67%) landing success. Once landed, self-release (i.e., unhooked without use of hands) was most common for fish caught on very bite-shortened (shortened by 6 mm), followed by short bite-shortened (shortened by 4 mm), and then regular barbless hooks (hook not modified), while regular barbed hooks had the lowest self-release rate. Very short bite-shortened and short bite-shortened barbless hook configurations resulted in shallower hook depths and were less likely to cause injury compared to barbed and barbless regular length hooks. This research suggests that bite shortened barbless hooks allow for easy and rapid self-release while retaining reasonably high rates of landing success, suggesting that bite-shortened hooks could be a useful management tool for recreational fisheries.

Influence of hook barbs on the “through-the-gill” hook removal method for deeply hooked Smallmouth Bass

Sustainable catch-and-release fisheries are based on the assumption that most fish survive an angling event. The adoption of best practices has become important to help mitigate post-release injury, behavioral impairment and mortality. However, in any catch-and-release fishery, a proportion of fish will become inadvertently deeply hooked (e.g., in the gullet) and numerous studies have shown this to be a major driver of mortality. Although available science suggests that cutting the line tends to yield better outcomes than removing hooks in the gullet, there has been interest within the angling community with removing hooks using the “through-the-gill” method where the hook shaft is turned outwards into the gill region and then the hook is removed by pulling anteriorly by gripping the outside bend of the hook. Here, we tested the efficacy of removing barbed and barbless hooks though the gill opening from experimentally deep-hooked Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) relative to leaving the hooks in place. Using a control group and four experimental treatment groups (barbed and removed through the gills; barbless and removed through gills; barbed and left in; barbless and left in), we evaluated handling time, presence of bleeding, incidence of gill or esophageal injury, reflex impairment, incidence of hook shedding (for the left in treatment groups), and survival across a 24-hour monitoring period. Collectively, our results suggested that when hooks were barbed and removed through the gills, fish condition and survival were lower. In addition, barbed hooks were more likely to cause bleeding, gill damage, esophageal tearing, and impair reflexes. When hook removal was done through the gills, the chances of all sublethal outcomes across all categories were more likely to occur. While short-term mortality was not statistically linked with any treatment group, the greatest percentage of mortality (24%) occurred for fish that had barbed hooks removed using the through-the-gill method. These data suggest that when anglers use barbed hooks and encounter a deeply hooked fish, cutting the line poses the least risk to the fish.

Evaluating different hook removal gear for in-water dehooking of jaw-hooked fish captured with barbed or barbless hooks

Dehooking tools are often touted as a means to remove hooks from fish caught in recreational fisheries, especially for fish intended for release. We used Bluegill as a model species to test the efficacy of five dehooking tools as well as bare hands, for both barbed and barbless hooks. Bare hands took the longest to dehook fish, and there was little difference in dehooking times among the dehooking tools used. Tissue tearing, however, tended to be more extensive for fish dehooked with tools compared to bare hands. For all dehooking tools and bare hands, barbed hooks took significantly longer to remove than barbless hooks, and there was a 65% increase in tissue tear size for fish caught on barbed hooks. Those fish scored as difficult for hook removal were caught on barbed hooks. Overall, larger fish took longer to dehook than smaller fish, but tearing was not size-dependent. Incidence of bleeding was low and not significantly different among treatments. The only fish that experienced reflex impairment were those caught on barbed hooks that also had the longest dehooking times. Overall, for Bluegill hooked in the upper jaw, our study showed that using barbless hooks is a more important than which purpose-built dehooking tool is used. Given the diversity of species caught in recreational fisheries across a wide range of locations and scenarios, we recommend more studies of this kind be conducted, as well as for tackle manufactures to work closely with fisheries scientists to design dehooking tools that minimize physical injury.

Catch-and-Release Ice Fishing with a Mormyshka for Roach (Rutilus rutilus) and European Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

Abstract This study examined and described the basic parameters of the catch-and-release angling of roach Rutilus rutilus and European perch Perca fluviatilis with the mormyshka technique. Catch efficiency, the size of the fish caught, the time required to unhook the fish and the total time during which the fish were handled, hooking location, the occurrence of injury and initial hooking mortality were determined. The study indicates that the mormyshka technique is an effective way to catch roach and European perch when ice fishing. The efficiency of the catches and landings was similar for barbed and barbless hooks. The mormyshka technique also proved to be safe for the fish during catch-and-release fishing. The decided majority of fish were hooked shallowly on the upper jaw, which is a safe location, and injury occurred rarely regardless of the hook type. Generally unhooking the fish from the mormyshka hook was seamless and fish handling was brief. Additionally, when roach were caught with barbless hooks, unhooking time and handling was shorter than it was with barbed hooks. No initial hooking mortality was observed in roach, while it occurred in only two specimens of European perch.

Telemetry reveals the movement, fate, and lure-shedding of northern pike (Esox lucius) that break the line and escape recreational fisheries capture

Although many fish are captured and released following hook removal by recreational anglers, some fish break the line and are confronted by the potential impediment of a lure lodged in the jaw, buccal cavity, or throat. We simulated break-off events by releasing northern pike (Esox lucius) into Lake Opinicon, Canada with custom-built lures that were manufactured to contain radio transmitters. Treatment groups combined hook placements (lower jaw, upper and lower jaw, throat) and hook types (barbed and barbless) to investigate the effects on pike survival, movement, and lure shedding. Fifty-one pike were released (522 ± 64 mm), three of which died (6%; 95% CI = 2–16%). Data were analysed by dummy variable regression to investigate the main effects of hook placements and hook type in pike. Cumulative distance swam after release was significantly reduced by deep hooking and lower jaw hooking. All fish except for one shed the lures within 14 d of release, and barbed hooks and lures lodged in the lower jaw significantly increased the time required for pike to shed lures. In light with previous work, we documented significant short-term behavioural consequences of lure break-off for pike (i.e. hyperactivity) but the experimental fish rapidly and naturally shed the hooks within days in nearly every instance. Given our findings, for pike (and likely related species such as muskellunge), anglers can be reasonably confident that long-term damage to individuals is limited even when a lure is retained by an animal following a break off event. Nonetheless, use of barbless hooks facilitates lure shedding, and all efforts should be taken to avoid break off events in the first instance using appropriate gear (e.g., wire leader, heavy line) especially when angling for fish with sharp dentition.

Influence of needle bevel design on injection pain and needle deformation in dental local infiltration anaesthesia – randomized clinical trial

The aims of this in vivo study were to evaluate the impact of needle bevel design on patients’ pain perception and the mechanical deformation of the needle tip after the injection. In a prospective single-blinded trial, 150 patients received conventional infiltration anaesthesia for dental treatment by one examiner. Patients were randomized for one out of three different needle bevel types (scalpel-designed bevel needle (SB), n=50; triple bevel needle (TB), n=50; regular bevel needle (RB), n=50). Subjects’ self-reported injection pain perception was evaluated using a numeric rating scale (NRS). For each needle tip, deformations after single use were measured using SEM. A significant lower injection pain level was found in SB (mean 2.1±1.2) than in TB (mean 3.5±1.6;) and RB (mean 3.4±1.0; all P<0.001). A needle deformation was detected in about 97.3% of all needles (SB 50/50, TB 50/50, and RB: 46/50). A higher number of barbs were found in SB (29/50) versus TB (17/50) and RB (19/50). For dental local infiltration anaesthesia, injection needles with a scalpel-designed bevel demonstrated significantly less injection pain. Needle tip deflections after anaesthetic agent infiltration, especially barbed hooks on the non-cutting edge may result in greater soft tissue trauma.

Stories (Eurydice)

stories (Eurydice) Katherine D. Perry (bio) for R. T. Smith I hear a poem about fishing.I hear metaphors that tell me/listener/woman:you catch me, weave me into your netby surrounding/flooding/overpowering me. Your line reelsme to the sandbar; a smile crooks on your face.Hook in my mouth, I touch air: hazy worldwhere sun burns scales,where oxygen steals breath. In your poem,I am mounted/plaque/trophy to your walland represent the brilliance of your skill/art/mastery. That is the story you tell: death of your beauty/love/woman. This is the story I hear/believe/create, the one we/fish/living tell: A sparkle comes; metal sings its melodies.Fascinated, she follows the notes, nudgingwith caution barbed hooks. As it moves, she follows,closer and closer to the surface, where the world ends, wherethe world begins. Just as she realizes that changing [End Page 53] worlds means death, the lure vanishes, as if jerkedfrom the water, as if the gods snatchedit from her jaws (she moved on). Other stories fill the gaps: stories of women biting,of a world of heat and light. These distant tales/poems/storiesbecome the topics of our lives. We knowthat she would never bite/swallow/take that lure.We know that others/gods/fishermen tell those stories. She swims beyond them. [End Page 54] Katherine D. Perry Katherine D. Perry is associate professor at Perimeter College of Georgia State University. She also works in prisons to bring poetry to incarcerated students and is building a prison initiative at GSU. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, and can be reached at perrykat@me.com. Copyright © 2017 Katherine D. Perry

A new technique to explant an infected aortic endograft

The management of an infected aortic endograft can be challenging both operatively and clinically. Although aortic endograft infection is rare, the incidence is likely to increase in the coming years because of ever rising numbers of endovascular aneurysm repairs. Definitive management involves the removal of the endograft through laparotomy. Removal of the graft is technically challenging; no manufacturer's device is available to assist in disengagement of barbed hooks that hold the endograft in position. We present a new technique using the disposable proctoscope as a device to facilitate safe removal of the endograft with minimal damage to the aortic wall.

Fishhook Removal: Case Reports and a Review of the Literature

BackgroundFishhook injuries are common among people who fish for recreation, but can be encountered in anyone who has handled a fishhook. They represent a unique challenge for Emergency Physicians who seek to remove them without causing further tissue damage from the barbed nature of the hook. ObjectiveOur aim was to discuss the techniques available to providers in the removal of a barbed fishhook by illustrating actual cases seen in the Emergency Department. Case ReportsWe present two cases of patients with fishhook injuries. We discuss the proper assessment of these injuries. We describe techniques for removing a barbed hook from a patient's skin and offer images to guide management. ConclusionsUnderstanding the unique nature of fishhook injuries and awareness of techniques to manage them are essential to the practicing Emergency Physician.

The influence of hook size, type, and location on hook retention and survival of angled bonefish ( Albula vulpes)

Bonefish ( Albula spp.) support a circum-tropical sport fishery in which anglers predominantly release angled fish. The influence of hook location, size, and type on hook retention, post-release feeding ability and survival were evaluated. Overall, 46% of bonefish held in large holding tanks expelled hooks within a 14-day observation period. Hooks located in the lip were expelled 2.6 times more frequently than hooks located in the gut. Barbless hooks were expelled 3.9 times faster when located deep in the oral cavity compared to barbed hooks, but there was no difference in expulsion rates among barbed and barbless hooks in shallow-hooked fish. For the two hook sizes studied, hook size had no impact on hook expulsion rates or duration of hook retention regardless of hook location or type. The presence of a hook had no significant effect on weight change, indicating the presence of a hook did not impede feeding ability. No post-release mortality was observed for bonefish during the short duration of this study. Leaving a difficult to remove hook in a bonefish is recommended to increase the likelihood of post-release survival, especially in cases where the threat of bonefish predators is high.

Look at the Birds of the Air

Look at the Birds of the Air C. E. Morgan (bio) Sometimes at night, the pain would wake her. She would lie in the bed, her lungs swollen like balloons, gasping for air. And think: I'm like a fish who has been pulled from the water. I am dying on the sandy soil of a strange beach. Now the great fisherman pulled the barbed hook from her flesh; now he flayed her up the middle. She looked down at herself in horror and curiosity. Between her breasts she saw the flesh split away and there they were, her lungs, much smaller than she had expected and grayish-pink. The pale cage of her ribs over her heart. Her viscera, the coiled miles of her life all washed in blood. Her dreams, like an animal's, useless. Once she saw a bird die in the air. She had never thought about it before—where did a bird go to die? Did it shuffle into the nook of a tree, tuck its beak under its wing and breathe its final breath into the memory of traveled miles? Did death creep in like ice from a wingtip? She had wandered off into the woods that day. While she dreamed in a row of yellow ferns, the bird dropped like stone out of the sky. It landed at her feet on its back, its neck arched with its last motion. She knelt beside it and contemplated the still breast, the blizzard white of the underbelly, the wings stretched out in the habit of flight. It was impossibly silent. She wondered, should she dig a little grave? Should she lay a leaf on its belly like a shield against the coming evening? In the end, after she had stared for a long time, she left it where it lay with its perfect beauty against the dirt. When they finally told her the name of her illness, it no longer mattered. She had been sick for a long time. And what was the use of a name, she thought. Was a name a cure? Silene noeturna, Helenium autumnale, Solanum, Rosa. What beautiful names, she thought, but not one ever saved a flower. The only diagnosis that ever mattered for girl or flower: mortal. As a child, she met a man like an angel on a snowy city street. He gazed into her eyes and told her things that she could not remember later. She only knew that they were not promises, not certainties. She listened as though she would die if she missed a word. His right cheek was tattooed [End Page 37] with a blue tear. Later she would remember that the falling snow did not melt on his face. Years passed and another voice growled in her ear during a long night on a train. "Wake up," it said. "Wake up." She woke up and stared intently into the dark of the vanishing landscape, trembling. She opened her eyes as wide as they would open. The dark night distended; it went on and on and would not end. She had been awake and waiting ever since. The ghosts, the angels, the figures were not important in themselves. In her memory they were only vapor, and she tried to peer through them, away from herself. She wanted to see beyond the tangle of her own brief and certain mind toward a place where thinking was not useful, and certainty even less so. And so she began the task of looking. She penetrated into the world of things to see if these things led to any more things, invisible things, or even non-things. She saw in the breast of a single fallen bird a heart which could never break even if it fell from the sky. She heard the honeybees and saw the colonies they built but also knew they never made love. She looked at the purple poppies with their dull black eyes. Could she be like them, unmirrored in the world, face to the blinding sun? She did not think so. Who could fathom all the unsensing things of this world? This world in which the waves could press the shore unceasingly...

Consequences of fishing lure retention on the behaviour and physiology of free-swimming smallmouth bass during the reproductive period

When break-offs occur during recreational angling, lures may be retained by the fish. To date, there have been few studies on the consequences of lure retention on sportfish. This study evaluated how the retention of three different types of lures (i.e., crankbait, jig and plastic worm—all with barbed hooks) influenced the behaviour, physiology and reproductive success of nesting, male smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu) relative to controls released after lure removal. Bass were angled from their nests and subjected to a simulated lure retention scenario in which one of three lure types was placed in the upper middle jaw. Males were subsequently released and their behaviour (time to return to nest, parental care behaviour) was monitored. Immediately after release, fish with retained lures exhibited altered behaviour relative to control fish, attempting to expel the lure. However, these differences in behaviour were no longer apparent after 24 h even for those fish that retained the lures. Rates of nest abandonment did not differ between treatment and control fish in the short term. Fish were rarely able to liberate themselves from the retained lure in the several days post-treatment. Physiological sampling conducted on jig treatment fish and angled controls revealed elevated blood glucose concentrations in fish that had retained lures for 24 h, while lactate concentrations and hematocrit did not differ between treatment and control fish. These results demonstrate that lure retention in the short-term influences both the behaviour and physiology of smallmouth bass. Given that lures were generally retained throughout the study period, there may be merit in anglers using barbless hooks that may be more readily shed by fish that break the line, reducing the welfare impacts associated with lure break-offs on wild fish. Additional studies are needed to understand the longer term consequences of lure retention in free-swimming fish.

Mother Nature, Her Eels

1 Under streetlight, the line comes reeling in. It’s Friday night on the Seekonk River, and a Dominican immigrant has an American eel, Anguilla rostrata, on the hook. This is a “yellow eel,” slightly more than a foot long, thrashing in the shallows. More accurately, its color is green. It is the mature—but not yet sexually mature—stage of eel metamorphosis , one of many in the eel life cycle. This creature is likely three or four years old, and it’s probably a male. Females are larger, heavy with fecundity. Typically they are found higher upstream. It is apparent that this probable male isn’t going to make it. Ronny—a Guatemalan—comes to the aid of his Dominican friend, who is disinclined to deal with this thing, esta anguilla, wiggling maniacally. He grapples with it in the mud, locking a hand around the line, sliding it down over the slimy body. The body wraps around Ronny’s forearm and licks frightful circles, turning like a corkscrew. This eel, while rooting around in the benthic muck of this broad stretch of river, just swam upon a clam worm, una lumbriz, threaded with a hook. The worm was a heavy one, expensive too—twelve for nine dollars at a local bait shop on Branch Avenue. These fishermen pull them from a tangle of weeds in a white cardboard box, the kind that normally pops open to reveal pastries, but these pastries elongate as they are lifted, shaping themselves with round muscles, while nubby appendages finger down the sides of their bodies. Ronny had shown me in gestures how in Guatemala they take a machete and cut up the earth for similar long, legged worms. Now he grabs a rock with his right hand and takes it to the eel he has pinned between two stones. Blow after blow, he blasts it in the head. It is sudden and brutal, and I cringe. Yet the eel wriggles on—uncontrollably —seemingly unfazed by a broken skull. Ronny holds the body against his boot and takes his fingers to the snout, feeling for the remains of the lumbriz somewhere inside. The eel’s gape looks like an open wound; the creature looks like a snake sliced in half. Mother Nature, Her Eels Nick Neely 2 Ecotone: reimagining place “Fuck, mang,” says Ronny, “dat’s fucked up.” These are universal words, easy to appreciate. The eel squirms up and down in Ronny’s circled hand, defying grasp. I’d be cursing worse. “Man, it’s really down in there, isn’t it?” says Louis, a young Dominican, a driver for a company in Massachusetts. He is here with his mother, who is the girlfriend of the man whose line holds this eel. When I arrived, Louis was in the rear of a small sedan, smoking and drinking, hip-hop lyrics rolling out the window—not fishing. He spent most of his boyhood in Miami in “the hood,” as he says. Now he tours up and down the East Coast freighting perishables, turning west just three or four times a year to pick up or deliver. The barbed hook is lodged in flesh that’s come an awful long way only to be snared by a man living in Pawtucket, Rhode Island—all the way from the Sargasso Sea, where the eel was spawned. Eels are catadromous , returning from years spent in freshwater streams to breed and die in unknown depths near Bermuda. It’s a reverse paradigm to that of inland-born shad or salmon—anadromous fish. Eel courtship has never been documented, and we know little about their long journey. We do know that they don’t come back, that they mate and die. The genes of this one on the line won’t make it to the next generation; it’ll never return to the deep, calm water country where it was born. Ronny is the first of his family to live in the United States. His was a long journey of its own. He traveled at night, and in mass, like the eel. It took him seventeen days to trek on foot to the Texan border and cross it with...

Hook Shedding and Mortality of Deeply Hooked Brook Trout Caught with Bait on Barbed and Barbless Hooks

AbstractWe compared hook shedding rates, mortality, and bleeding of cultured brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis subjected to intentional deep hooking on size‐6 barbed or barbless single hooks (with line cutting) baited with leaf worms Lumbricus rubellus. Hook shedding at the end of the 6‐week holding period averaged 20% and did not differ between hook types. Neither immediate mortality (average = 12.5%) nor mortality after 5 d (average = 20%) differed between hook types. Although we cannot demonstrate a survival advantage for cultured brook trout that were baitfished with barbless hooks over those caught on barbed hooks, we did find that significantly less bleeding was caused by barbless hooks. Further research examining whether the use of barbless hooks results in increased survival of wild brook trout or other trout species under different fishing conditions is warranted.

Another Blood Feeder? Experimental Feeding of a Fruit-Piercing Moth Species on Human Blood in the Primorye Territory of Far Eastern Russia (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae)

The genus Calyptra Ochsenheimer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpini) includes what are commonly known as vampire moths, so named because of their ability to pierce mammalian flesh and feed on blood. These are medium sized moths, with wingspans ranging from 35 to 72 mm in size (Banziger 1983; Table 1; Figs. 1, 2 and 3). Species in this genus occur in S. Europe, eastern Africa, sub-Himalayan regions of S. Asia, the Manchurian subregion, and are broadly distributed throughout S. E. Asia. Calyptra species have enjoyed popularity among members of the entomological community due to their modified proboscides equipped with strongly sclerotized barbed hooks used for piercing through both thick and hard skinned fruits such as peaches, plums, and citrus as well as mammals (Banziger 1982; Zaspel, personal observation; Fig. 4). Of the 17–19 described Calyptra species (Banziger 1983; Poole 1989), C. eustrigata (Hampson), C. minuticornis minuticornis (Guenee), C. orthograpta J Insect Behav (2007) 20:437–451 DOI 10.1007/s10905-007-9090-3

A Review of Catch-and-Release Angling Mortality with Implications for No-take Reserves

Management agencies have increasingly relied on size limits, daily bag or trip limits, quotas, and seasonal closures to manage fishing in recreational and commercial fisheries. Another trend is to establish aquatic protected areas, including no-take reserves (NTRs), to promote sustainable fisheries and protect aquatic ecosystems. Some anglers, assuming that no serious harm befalls the fish, advocate allowing catch-and-release (C&R) angling in aquatic protected areas. The ultimate success of these regulations and C&R angling depends on ensuring high release survival rates by minimizing injury and mortality. To evaluate the potential effectiveness of these practices, we review trends in C&R fishing and factors that influence release mortality. Analysis of Marine Recreational Fishery Statistic Survey (MRFSS) data for 1981–1999 showed no statistically significant U.S. trends for total number of anglers (mean 7.7 × 106), total catch in numbers (mean 362 × 106), or total annual catch/angler (mean 42.6 fish). However, mean total annual landings declined 28% (188.5 to 135.7 × 106), mean total catch/angler/trip declined 22.1% (0.95 to 0.74 fish), and mean landings/angler/trip declined 27% (0.42 to 0.31 fish). The total number of recreational releases or discards increased 97.1% (98.0 to 193.2 × 106) and as a proportion of total catch from 34.2% in 1981 to 58.0% in 1999. Evidence indicates that the increased releases and discards are primarily in response to mandatory regulations and to a lesser extent, voluntary releases. Total annual catch and mean annual catch/angler were maintained despite declines in catch per trip because anglers took 30.8% more fishing trips (43.5 to 56.9 × 106), perhaps to compensate for greater use of bag and size limits. We reviewed 53 release mortality studies, doubling the number of estimates since Muoneke and Childress (1994) reviewed catch and release fishing. A meta-analysis of combined data (n=274) showed a skewed distribution of release mortality (median 11%, mean 18%, range 0–95%). Mortality distributions were similar for salmonids, marine, and freshwater species. Mean mortality varied greatly by species and within species, anatomical hooking location was the most important mortality factor. Other significant mortality factors were: use of natural bait, removing hooks from deeply hooked fish, use of J-hooks (vs. circle hooks), deeper depth of capture, warm water temperatures, and extended playing and handling times. Barbed hooks had marginally higher mortality than barbless hooks. Based on numbers of estimates, no statistically significant overall effects were found for fish size, hook size, venting to deflate fish caught at depth, or use of treble vs. single hooks. Catch and release fishing is a growing and an increasingly important activity. The common occurrence of release mortality, however, requires careful evaluation for achieving fishery management goals and in some cases, disturbance, injury, or mortality may conflict with some goals of NTRs. Research is needed to develop better technology and techniques to reduce release mortality, to assess mortality from predation during capture and after release, to determine cumulative mortality from multiple hooking and release events, and to measure sub-lethal effects on behavior, physical condition, growth, and reproduction.

Effect of Hook Type on Mortality, Trauma, and Capture Efficiency of Wild, Stream‐Resident Trout Caught by Active Baitfishing

AbstractWe used an active fishing technique (tight‐line fishing with immediate hook set) to compare mortality, injury, and capture efficiency of wild, stream‐resident salmonids captured by barbed or barbless single hooks baited with leaf worms Lumbricus rubellus. Mortality at 72 h (2– 7%), anatomical hooking location (superficial or deep), and eye damage (5% of captures) in brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis did not differ between hook types. However, brook trout that were deeply hooked were more likely to die when barbed hooks were used. Mortality and eye damage in brown trout Salmo trutta were similarly low, but sample sizes were insufficient for comparison of hook types. Hook types did not differ significantly in terms of hooking efficiency, frequency of fish escape after hooking, or the mean unhooking time in which fish were held out of water. Active baitfishing resulted in levels of postrelease mortality that were substantially lower than those commonly reported in baitfishing mortality studies.

Effect of Hook Type on Mortality, Trauma, and Capture Efficiency of Wild Stream Trout Caught by Angling with Spinners

AbstractThis study assessed short‐term (48‐h) hooking mortality, eye damage, jaw injury, and capture efficiency of three species of wild stream trout caught on size‐1 Mepps spinners having barbed or barbless treble or single hooks. The mortality of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, brown trout Salmo trutta, and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis was low (&lt;4%). Hook types did not differ significantly in causing mortality or severe eye damage of rainbow trout or brown trout. Severe eye damage was evident on about 10% of the trout landed (range = 2% to 13%, depending on species). Jaw injuries were found on about 6% of the catch. Barbed hooks hooked and held more trout than barbless hooks and treble hooks hooked and held more trout than single hooks. Barbless single hooks were quicker to remove than the other hook types, but the difference was insufficient to reduce mortality. Our results do not indicate a biological advantage with the use of single‐ or barbless‐hook spinners when caught wild stream trout will be released.

Performance of Barbed and Barbless Hooks in a Marine Recreational Fishery

Abstract We used an angling study to examine catch per unit effort (CPUE), bait loss, and total landings by anglers fishing with natural bait on barbed and barbless hooks in a nearshore marine sport fishery located in the Gulf of Mexico near St. Petersburg, Florida. Anglers fished half the day with a barbed hook and half the day with a barbless hook. We also recorded anatomical hook placement, severity of injury or bleeding, and hook extraction times for each landed fish. Bait loss, CPUE, and mean length of catch did not differ between gears, but anglers landed 22% more fish with barbed hooks. Loss of hooked fish was significantly higher with barbless hooks, and efficiency appeared to vary among species. Mean unhooking times were significantly shorter with barbless hooks. Anatomical hook placement did not differ between gears and most fish were hooked in the jaws. Bleeding did not differ between gears because bleeding was influenced strongly by hook placement, but barbless hooks reduced unhooking injuries...