Capture gear
Longline Fishing Gear
Mass capture by baited hook
What it is
A mainline, sometimes kilometres long, trails branch lines tipped with baited hooks near the surface or along the seabed. An animal that takes the bait is held by the hook until the crew hauls the line in.
Where it sits in the system
Longlines reach valuable species across large stretches of water — tuna, swordfish, halibut, cod — and drag across less seabed than trawling, which is the argument made for them.
Welfare concern
Hooked animals stay on the line until retrieval: injured, exhausted, or unable to breathe normally. Seabirds, turtles, sharks and fish the boat was not fishing for are caught on the same hooks.
Worth being precise about
Circle hooks, weighted lines, night setting, bird-scaring lines, fishing depth and faster retrieval reduce some bycatch, and results vary widely between fisheries. None of it changes what the hook does to the animals the gear is aimed at.
