Regulatory Issues: Cooke and Suski report that several jurisdictions require circle-hook use: Canadian white hake fisheries; some Maine groundfish (cod, haddock, etc.); some California coastal salmonid fisheries; and a section of the Delaware River striper fishery. But circle hooks aren't clearly defined, in many cases. There's a need for standardization of terminology and products in the tackle industry. A proposed requirement for circle hooks in all striped bass livebait fisheries was recently defeated due to lack of such standardization.

Cooke and Suski conclude, “Advances in hook design clearly have the potential to significantly reduce injury and mortality of fish that are to be released. Circle hooks represent the first major effort to alter hook design for conservation purposes. Of particular interest are studies that vary the degree to which the hook forms a circle, the gap between hook point and shank, and the size of hook relative to fish size.” We couldn't agree more.

We also ask the fishing community not to look solely at any one technique or technology -- such as circle hooks -- for all the answers. In the “Inside Angles” column of this issue, Editor In Chief Doug Stange again describes a technique that can greatly reduce mortality of fish deeply hooked with conventional hooks.

We're in an age when selective harvest is a necessity. The objective is to ensure that we can continue to harvest and eat some fish, while releasing others to sustain good fishing into the future.