Information About Long Line Fishing
Long line fishing is a commercial fishing technique. It uses a long main line with baited hooks attached at intervals by shorter lengths of line, called snoods. There are different types of long line fishing, and many species can be targeted.
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Species
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Longliners commonly target swordfish, cod, halibut, tuna, sablefish and many other species. Long line fishing is sometimes criticized because it can lead to the incidental catch of unintended species of fish, sea turtles, and birds. This is called by-catch.
Types
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Long lines are classified by where they are placed in the water column. There are two major types. Pelagic long line fishing uses lines set to hang near the surface to catch fish such as tuna and swordfish. Demersal long lines are set along the sea floor for fish like halibut or cod. Long lines with traps instead of hooks are used for crab fishing in deep water.
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Environmental Impact
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Long line fishing causes significantly less damage to habitats than do other methods of commercial fishing, such as trawling. However, there can also be significant by-catch. Sea turtles and albatross are among the endangered animals threatened by long line fishing.
Economics
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Long line fishing needs less fuel than other types of commercial fishing. In addition, new long line technology has increased the catch ratio. By some estimates, efficiency is enhanced by 2 to 4 percent for cod, 6 to 11 percent for haddock and 9 to 14 percent for Greenland halibut over other methods.
Regulations
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In some unstable fisheries, fishermen may be limited to as few as 25 hooks per line. Fishermen in healthier fisheries of the North Pacific and Bering Sea can run over 2,500 baited hooks on a series of lines. Fishermen may be required to use special circle hooks to lessen by-catch.
Fun Fact
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The Culinary Institute of Norway judged the quality of long line cod to be twice as good as trawled cod.
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