Fluke survey on hook size from fish and game.

[Billfish715]

This survey is an attempt to support someone's theory that using larger hooks will save more fish by decreasing mortality. My comments were directed toward reducing the size limits so those deeply hooked 17 inch fish would not be wasted. My other suggestion was to increase the hook sizes even more, to 10/0 so no fish are ever deeply hooked or caught thereby reducing mortality by 100%. No fish caught means no dead fish. Problem solved.

Keep in mind during the late eighties into the nineties before bucktailing was as popular as it is today the majority of recreational guys dragged bait along with the entire party boat fleet, we didn't have an issue with the fluke biomass. Almost everyone was using English style hooks back then, spearing. squid. killies and strip baits. There were a lot more gut hooked fish and fish harvested in general with the more liberal possession limits and the stock biomass was soaring higher. Same time the possession limits were 8 - 10 at 13 - 14 inches. As previously posted, spawning stock biomass went from ~7,000 metric tons in '89 to over 50,000 metric tons in '12. An insane increase. If the explosion of the biomass continued even at more modest rate, it's incomprehensible how large the stock would be today. Would be somewhere over 300,000 metric tons today without considering other factors.

While it makes sense larger hooks will reduce some degree of mortality, that number won't come close to compensating for the carnage commercial dragging is causing the fluke population this time of year when the stock is in full spawn. Doesn't take a politician or scientist to predict the impact constant dragging has on stressing fish out, killing fish before they've had a chance to spawn and killing eggs once released. These fish are in the most highly concentrated schools this time of year and are being pounded at their most vulnerable time of year and important time of their life cycle. NMFS and ASMFC have their heads in the sand allowing this and no amount of reduced mortality from larger hooks for recreational anglers will remotely compensate for the devastation the winter commercial fishery is causing. A winter fishery never existed years ago, recruitment strength was at all time highs and the biomass skyrocketed to historic highs.

We don't need scientists to state the obvious, we need someone in Washington to put the health of this fishery before their own personal agendas or their failed methodology of managing catch as opposed to addressing the cause of the problem. It's all about harvesting too many breeders (15 - 20 years of size limit increases) and the build up of a commercial winter fishery to supply domestic and world markets. That's killing the fishery, not hook size. While I applaud NJ for trying, it doesn't address the problem killing the fishery.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I completed the survey and applaud the NJ F&G for educating the public on this issue. Their hands are tied just like ours by what is handed down by the federal laws, management system resulting in our quotas. Rather then sit back and watch, they are at least trying to effect what they can.

Yes, there are much larger issues at hand here but we should all be doing our part to try and conserve the resources we are given and improving release mortality is one way to do that.

[hammer4reel]

I filled it out , but IMO it was just as much a survey about how much revenue they are possibly losing.
Number in household , amount of income as well as amount of trips change has nothing to do with mortality .

If anything more than just hook size , how about proper handling shorts.
Video just put out of a sponsor boat here throwing back shorts like they were trash , claiming they were throwing back 90% of the fish caught daily.
And tossing them thirty feet through the air"

[Ry609]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

This survey is an attempt to support someone's theory that using larger hooks will save more fish by decreasing mortality. My comments were directed toward reducing the size limits so those deeply hooked 17 inch fish would not be wasted. My other suggestion was to increase the hook sizes even more, to 10/0 so no fish are ever deeply hooked or caught thereby reducing mortality by 100%. No fish caught means no dead fish. Problem solved.

My comments at the end were similar...introduce a slot fish limit of 4 @ 15-17" and 1 @ 21" and over or something similar...this decreases the amount of breeding females taken out of the population, albeit it just by recreational guys like us. I said that I was forced to throw back countless 15" to 17" THICK fish that I would've been satisfied keeping for dinner, and stopped fishing for the day rather than continue targeting larger breeding females. Also said that I noticed a significant uptick in numbers of fish caught once the commercial guys' season ended and were no longer dragging bottom taking or killing everything in their way. Won't make a difference I'm sure, but my conscience is clear and I said my piece!

I give credit to NJDEP for at least attempting to gather some data in our favor...it's not them that the fight is with.

[NoLimit]

Originally Posted by Ry609

My comments at the end were similar...introduce a slot fish limit of 4 @ 15-17" and 1 @ 21" and over or something similar...this decreases the amount of breeding females taken out of the population, albeit it just by recreational guys like us. I said that I was forced to throw back countless 15" to 17" THICK fish that I would've been satisfied keeping for dinner, and stopped fishing for the day rather than continue targeting larger breeding females. Also said that I noticed a significant uptick in numbers of fish caught once the commercial guys' season ended and were no longer dragging bottom taking or killing everything in their way. Won't make a difference I'm sure, but my conscience is clear and I said my piece!

I give credit to NJDEP for at least attempting to gather some data in our favor...it's not them that the fight is with.

Quoting this in the hopes that someone from the govt is reading this.

[tuna john]

I think that most who receive/reply to the survey already promote proper catch and release etc. What they should do is educate the new people and tourist party boat patrons and or supply this hooks to 4 hour boats patrons as they are unlikely to know a bite. Telling us makes no sense as we already do it ....

[tjd24]

Originally Posted by hammer4reel

I filled it out , but IMO it was just as much a survey about how much revenue they are possibly losing.
Number in household , amount of income as well as amount of trips change has nothing to do with mortality .

If anything more than just hook size , how about proper handling shorts.
Video just put out of a sponsor boat here throwing back shorts like they were trash , claiming they were throwing back 90% of the fish caught daily.
And tossing them thirty feet through the air"

I completed survey but left Household, Income, Race, etc boxes blank. They don't need that info.