THE CIRCLE-HOOK REVOLUTION

Between intense recreational-fishing pressure, big-money tournaments and commercial-longline bycatch, the East Coast white marlin fishery was near collapse in 2000. There was talk of adding white marlin to the endangered species list because less than 20 percent of the spawning biomass was available to sustain the species. Instead of doing that, Atlantic federal marine fisheries councils issued a ruling in 2008 that required the use of circle hooks in tournaments for live or dead natural baits or bait/lure combinations. There still is no rule requiring circle hooks be used outside of Atlantic billfish tournaments — or on the West Coast — but the sentiment for such measures is positive.

THE BEGINNING

In 1998, circle hooks exploded on the American sport-fishing scene with Capt. Ron Hamlin’s declaration that he would use nothing but circle hooks when fishing with bait. The announcement came as he was accepting The Billfish Foundation’s annual release award for the most Pacific sailfish in a single season (546 sails caught on J hooks in 1997). Tired of seeing gut-hooked billfish gushing blood, that night he denounced the J hooks that had brought him so much success.

What the spectators did not realize was that Hamlin had experienced a catch-per-unit effort rate of 65 percent