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As a rule of thumb, the more a fishery respects the environment, the more it reduces the suffering of the animals concerned, and vice versa. However, for one of the most sustainable fishing methods, this rule often does not apply yet: fishing by pole and line. Its impact on non-target species and on the aquatic environment is generally as low as neglectable, and its energy demand per ton of catch is much lower than in most other commercial fishing methods. But…

In recreational fishing, the most commonly used method is a rod with a line and a hook [1]. Pole and line on the other hand is mainly used in commercial fisheries on tuna. The pole is a simpler version of the rod with a line fixed at its farther end [2]. It is most effective when fishing on a shoal of tunas going mad in a feeding frenzy [3], biting everything that twinkles like the belly of a bait fish — even on bare hooks.

No stunning after the catch

Pole and line fishing is generally carried out by groups of fishermen strung alongside the railing. As soon as a tuna bites the hook, the man pulls the fish off the water and catapults it onboard. Once the tuna lies on the planks, the line gets loose and the hook automatically screws from the fish thanks to its barbless and circular shape. Therefore, line and hook are immediately ready to be thrown into the water again — a crucial condition in this kind of fishery because the feeding frenzy lasts only for a limited time until the tunas unveil the game.

Whereas this kind of fishing is efficient and sustainable, another issue is hard to solve. Usually, the tunas thrown on board suffer until they die on deck by suffocation or below deck when transformed alive. Given the number and speed of tunas arriving aboard, there is no way of placing persons on deck to stun and kill each tuna, and below deck and there seems to be no place for it, this is at least the result of our clarification so far. There is one exception when fisheries target big tuna, like bluefin, for markets that demand Japanese or sushi quality which means that each fish has to be stunned immediately by spiking [4].

Many live fishes needed as bait

There’s a second still unsolved problem with animal suffering in commercial pole and line fisheries which usually use live bait to induce feeding frenzy. The balls of bait thrown overboard consist of small demersal and pelagic forage fishes from species which are globally harvested for fish meal and fish oil in enormous quantities and consequently already overfished in some regions. This might be the first reason by the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) has launched a research project with the aim to replace bait fishes by an unknown yet ‚magic solution‘ [5]. Limiting the use of live bait would reduce the fuel needed to fish live bait, says IPNLF, and consequently ‚reduce the carbon footprint of pole-and-line fishing fleets, leading to cost savings and operational efficiencies, raising living standards, and supporting the conservation and management of coral reef resources, to name a few. Equally important, fishers would be able to spend more time with their family at home, improving their work-life balance‘.

It is interesting to see that in IPNLF’s approach, animal welfare is no argument at all. This might be due to the fact that the suffering of the caught tunas is hard to be reduced, so reducing the suffering of the bait fishes by reducing the use would not add so much to an animal friendly marketing claim. However limiting or even avoiding the use of bait fishes means to spare suffering to a much bigger number of fishes than the caught tunas. Of course one could argue that the bait fishes more or less undergo their natural suffering — but it is nevertheless a suffering caused by a manmade purpose.

Animal welfare is gaining public attention

For whatever reason IPNLF wants to limit the use of live bait, it is also a step towards reducing animal suffering in fisheries. It will be a good second step once IPNLF realises the power of animal welfare as a strong asset in selling tuna. Reducing animal suffering in fisheries is an upcoming issue and will gain momentum in consumer markets, not least thanks to the Carefish/catch project [6], the last research project I had drafted and launched with a consortium of five partners under the lead of fair-fish international. Within this project, pole and line is one of the fishing methods to be assessed. Time could be ripe for IPNLF and Carefish/catch to meet.

* First published on Facebook think.fish group, 09/11/2023

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Title picture:
Pole and line fishing in the Azores (credit: Pinterest)

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References:

[1] Should you want to know more about the difference between rod & line and Pole & line, here’s some stuff on recreational level: https://www.begintofish.com/fishing-rod-vs-fishing-pole/

[2] www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7ejiMyiRLI

[3] Feeding frenzy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyB-72XyWNQ and www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQmfJ8YF8Rw

[4] Spiking or Ikejime: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YonsGtYhaP4 and www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQmfJ8YF8Rw

[5] https://ipnlf.org/exploring-innovative-alternatives-for-live-bait-in-pole-and-line-fisheries

[6] https://fair-fish.net/en/what/fish-welfare/fisheries/carefish-catch/