Hook Shielding and Bait Setting Devices

Hook Shielding Devices – the Hookpod

The Hookpod-LED and Hookpod-mini devices are polycarbonate capsules that encase the point and barb of baited pelagic longline hooks to prevent seabirds from becoming hooked and drowning during line‐setting operations. A research project testing hookpod effectiveness has demonstrated that it does not negatively affect the catch rate of target species (Sullivan et al., 2017).

Both the Hookpod-LED and the Hookpod-mini have been included on ACAP’s list of best practice measures for mitigating seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries (ACAP, 2021) and are currently being used by various commercial longline fisheries in Brazil, South Africa and New Zealand. Currently the only RFMO permitting the use of Hookpods is the WCFPC, in which case it can be used as a standalone measure.

See this video for an introduction to Hookpods.

Underwater Bait Setting Devices

Underwater Bait Setting devices deploy baited hooks individually underwater down along a track installed on the transom of the fishing vessel enclosed in a capsule or similar device to eliminate any visual stimulus to seabirds following the vessel.

The capsule is submerged underwater at a predetermined target depth that can be adjusted in response to the dive capabilities of seabirds around the vessel during line setting to prevent interactions.