Call To Ban 'cruel' Stainless Steel Fishhooks (from News.com.au)

[zrealist]

A FEDERAL Government conservation organisation is asking fishermen to stop using stainless steel fishhooks, saying they are cruel.

They also say the hooks cause unnecessary loss of marine life.

Stainless steel hooks become a problem when fish break away from the line, leaving the hook stuck in their mouth. The hooks do not rust and often cause the fish to starve to death.

Coastcare, a National Heritage Trust-funded group, wants corrodible hooks to be the ones always used by anglers.

Such hooks would rust, hopefully quickly enough for the animal to survive.

Spokesman Brian Scarsbrick said yesterday that snagged animals such as sharks, dolphins and turtles often could not eat because of old hooks and many eventually starved or, in weakened condition, fell victim to predators.

Many commercial and recreational fishermen were embracing marine conservation and this was another logical step, he said.

Sunfish North Moreton branch secretary Bill Turner said stainless steel had been introduced about 30 years ago in an effort to stop hooks rusting in the tackle box.

"Stainless steel hooks hold their point better, but I gave up using them years ago," Mr Turner said.

"I personally don't see any advantage in them."

He called on all members to abandon stainless steel.

"Our annual general meeting is coming up this month, and I'm willing to make a recommendation for Sunfish to adopt this as policy," he said.

Mr Turner said stainless steel lasted for an indefinite period and anglers should do anything that would help species survive better.

Ron Hunter, owner of Dive Forster in northern NSW, said stainless steel was a major problem, especially in sharks.

"Up to 50 per cent of all sharks observed have some form of attachments in their mouths," Mr Hunter said.

"An ordinary steel hook will rust away and cause less problems than a stainless steel hook, which can stay in place for up to two years, in which time the shark will often die."

It was unclear how long different types of hooks took to rust, but it was thought smaller steel hooks took about six months.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21413038-421,00.html

Edited March 20, 2007 by johnno

[Kjd]

I didn't know they were allowed?

I see no problem in not using them. Though I can understand why they shouldn't be used I don't like anything being "banned" as we should all be free to make our own choices especially with something as simple as a fish hook! In saying this I don't think people should use stainless hooks and that they should have enough brains to not use them for the sake of our sport and respect for the animals we catch!

[Guest dicko1]

I would have no objection if they were to be banned. With a little bit of care ordinary hooks dont rust either, and its not like hooks are hugely expensive, so rusted ones can be disposed of. I rekon the cons of stainless hooks in regards to marine life, survival rates etc far outway the benefits.

Edited March 20, 2007 by dicko1

[Penguin]

IMO I dont see a NEED for stainless steel hooks,I dont use them.

penguin

[Guest AO7474]

IMO I dont see a NEED for stainless steel hooks,I dont use them.

penguin

What about for pulling lures for Marlin etc???????

[Guest dicko1]

What about for pulling lures for Marlin etc???????

I have never fished for marlin so I cant really comment on this... but are there no other alternatives? there must be some king of reinforced hooks or something??

[RPL]

They should be banned!

I caught a king once and its gut had developed a black toxicin sort of thing that was built up over a stainless steel hook. Its because they just dont break down.

[fishguts]

the reason conventional hooks rust so quickly if not washed, is because they dry out in your tackle

box with salt on them. its the air that does the damage, underwater they rust a whole lot slower

therefore... apparently the fish would still starve?..!!! rubber hooks anyone?

..stevo!..

[Kjd]

the reason conventional hooks rust so quickly if not washed, is because they dry out in your tackle

box with salt on them. its the air that does the damage, underwater they rust a whole lot slower

therefore... apparently the fish would still starve?..!!! rubber hooks anyone?

..stevo!..

I don't really see how this could be as there is A LOT more salt in the ocean and 85% of seawater is oxygen (which causes oxidisation aka rust along with moisture) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater) where as the air we breathe only has 21% oxygen (to sea's 85%) as well as the ocean being 3.5% saline (which is a catalyst for oxidisation)

I cannot find corrosion rates of open air vs water and salt water so this leads me to want to do an experiment. So next time I am down near seawater I will collect some and run a test on some fishing hooks. All hooks will be the same, one will be in open air and dry (control), one will be dipped into freshwater and left in the air, one will be dipped in saltwater and left in the air, one will be submerged in freshwater and the other will be submerged in saltwater.

I will be using smaller hooks so it all happens faster!

My prediction will be that the hook in seawater will corrode faster then any of the others with the hook dipped in salt water then left in the air will rust fast to start off with but the reaction will slow down as the moisture evapourates!

I will conduct the test over 4 weeks and take weekly photographs to track the progress. At the end I will do a strength test of all the hooks to see which method of corrosion will have the worst effect.

Cheers,

Keith.

[Guest rzep]

The results of that will be very interesting Keith.

[pjbink]

The results of that will be very interesting Keith.

Actually stainless steel will corode in the absence of oxygen. Ie oxygen has a protective effect. The shrink wrap sometimes put over S/S trolling rigs can therefore be a problem. I have had S/S hooks fall apart in my hands due to corrosion under the shrink wrap.

Also S/S is hard to do without in trolling skirted lures. Non S/S hooks will lose their sharpness after a few hours trolling and rusting hooks can stain the skirts. Maybe education and a voluntary code might be best rather than outright bans. Who knows they may otherwise decide livebaiting or some other prctice is cruel next and want to ban it too!

[Guest dicko1]

ok yes i can see the how they may be a necessary or preferred item in some forms of fishing. And those results to the test discussed above will be very interesting, but it does not take away from the fact that a stainless steell hook is definately going to corrode at a much slower rate than a normal hook which means that a fish with a s/s hook in it is going to be affected for a longer period of time than if it was a normal hook. I agree that the answer would probably more likely be a voluntary code as mentioned by billfisher.

As for non s/s hooks loosing sharpness after a few hours trolling, i can see where you are coming from but it doesnt take that long to sharpen a hook again... Maybe a a normal hook that is plated with s/s, could that work?? It may break down a bit quicker...

[sifisho]

Will be interesting to see which rusts fastest, I would punt one of the two exposed to seawater, but not sure whether the wet or dry one will win!

You are right in saying that seawater is 85% oxygen, but this is by mass and by elemental composition. What this means it that it includes all the oxygen which is locked up in water itself (i.e. H2O).

What will cause something to rust is exposure to "free" or dissolved oxygen. A high concentration of dissolved oxygen in seawater would be about 20 parts per million, where there are plenty of plants and a bit of white water to sir things up a bit.

Being underwater also helps because the water is more conductive than air, so will accelerate the reaction...

Love this sort of stuff (I am a wannabe scientist stuck in a desk job...)

[netic]

I use stainless steel hooks for game and for estuary fishing....but the stainless stell hook is only used as a keeper for king fishing......

They definately stay shaper alot longer..

As for non s/s hooks loosing sharpness after a few hours trolling, i can see where you are coming from but it doesnt take that long to sharpen a hook again... Maybe a a normal hook that is plated with s/s, could that work?? It may break down a bit quicker...

Mate when your running a spread of 5 lures with 2 hooks on each lure it can be a big pain bringing in your lures to sharpen your hooks...Stainless Steel hooks are essential for Game fishing

[fishguts]

I don't really see how this could be as there is A LOT more salt in the ocean and 85% of seawater is oxygen (which causes oxidisation aka rust along with moisture) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater) where as the air we breathe only has 21% oxygen (to sea's 85%) as well as the ocean being 3.5% saline (which is a catalyst for oxidisation)

I cannot find corrosion rates of open air vs water and salt water so this leads me to want to do an experiment. So next time I am down near seawater I will collect some and run a test on some fishing hooks. All hooks will be the same, one will be in open air and dry (control), one will be dipped into freshwater and left in the air, one will be dipped in saltwater and left in the air, one will be submerged in freshwater and the other will be submerged in saltwater.

I will be using smaller hooks so it all happens faster!

My prediction will be that the hook in seawater will corrode faster then any of the others with the hook dipped in salt water then left in the air will rust fast to start off with but the reaction will slow down as the moisture evapourates!

I will conduct the test over 4 weeks and take weekly photographs to track the progress. At the end I will do a strength test of all the hooks to see which method of corrosion will have the worst effect.

Cheers,

Keith.

wow.....opened a can of worms...( pun intended) i more often than not throw a hook in the box wet,

and being lazy, i get to them a couple of days later and they have already started rusting.

they dry slowly in moisture, not instantly.

an old bloke once told me (yeah right) that a wind & wave washed vessel on the rocks, will corrode

faster than one that is submerged due to the stuff that forms barnacles and algae.

my 17 year old studying son also tells me it is oxidization from the nitrogen in the air that does the

damage, not so much the oxygen, as his( left out in the fresh water rain pushbike, has shown)

but like rzep i am very intersested in your findings.....and will definatley stand corrected!

i now have a brain ache i will now and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

..cheers!..stevo!..

[Kjd]

If it is caused from nitrogen then why is it called oxidisation??

sifisho!! Tell me about it! Fun aye!!!

[fishguts]

If it is caused from nitrogen then why is it called oxidisation??

sifisho!! Tell me about it! Fun aye!!!

errrr..... my son just paid out on me...he said ionization from the nitrogen in the air

but i wrote oxidisation ..glass hooks anyone?

..cheers!..stevo!..

[fishguts]

any news???

..cheers!..stevo!..

[TheDiko]

I cannot find corrosion rates of open air vs water and salt water so this leads me to want to do an experiment.

My prediction will be that the hook in seawater will corrode faster then any of the others with the hook dipped in salt water then left in the air will rust fast to start off with but the reaction will slow down as the moisture evapourates!

I did this experiment last year in Science, year 10.

The results were that the nail in the salt water rusted a lot less in 7 days than did the nail that was dipped in salt water at day intervals (both test tubes were sealed).

The reactions are easier to take place out of the water because H2O is a very stable substance.

IFS

[fishguts]

I did this experiment last year in Science, year 10.

The results were that the nail in the salt water rusted a lot less in 7 days than did the nail that was dipped in salt water at day intervals (both test tubes were sealed).

The reactions are easier to take place out of the water because H2O is a very stable substance.

IFS

i did think so, but im still keen on kjd results on the hooks, and will always stand corrected.

..cheers!..stevo!..

[noisy]

wow.....opened a can of worms...( pun intended) i more often than not throw a hook in the box wet,

and being lazy, i get to them a couple of days later and they have already started rusting.

they dry slowly in moisture, not instantly.

an old bloke once told me (yeah right) that a wind & wave washed vessel on the rocks, will corrode

faster than one that is submerged due to the stuff that forms barnacles and algae.

my 17 year old studying son also tells me it is oxidization from the nitrogen in the air that does the

damage, not so much the oxygen, as his( left out in the fresh water rain pushbike, has shown)

but like rzep i am very intersested in your findings.....and will definatley stand corrected!

i now have a brain ache i will now and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

..cheers!..stevo!..

stevo just a quick spray of inox no more rusty hooks,split rings ect ect as a rockhopper i dont use s/steel because u loose so much gear s/steel is extra cost....bob

[IWANNABROCK]

does inox leave a bad smell on gear, causing fish not to bite?

[Dreamtime]

Sorry, I know this is an old topic, but as a new member I am still viewing these topics for the first time.

When you and I get home from a fishing trip we;

Clean the boat,

Flush the engine,

Spray WD40 or similar inside the engine cover(on an OBM),

Wash the rods,

Wash the reels,

Wash the esky(after we empty it),

Wash our body,

Wash our neck down at the local,

then periodically we;

Service the tow vehicle,

Grease the "bearing buddies" on the trailer,

Service the OBM

Service the reel(drag washers,etc),

Service the wife,or husband,

Surely it's not toooo hard to wash a steel hook then - is it?

Personally, I only use steel hooks.

When I arrive back at the mooring, (or house when I use the tinnie) I rinse the hooks that have been used on the trip, dry them, then dip them in coconut oil and put them back into the CLEAN tackle box or lure wrap. If I am planning to store them for a while, I put them into a "Tupperware" container immersed in coconut oil. If coconut oil is not available in your neck of the woods, then you could use tuna oil, vegetable oil or similar non petroleum based lubricants. I'm not sure if KY is suitable though!

If you are too knackered after your trip to do the above procedure, you could try and get into the habit of rinsing the hook after you have taken it off the line or lure, then toss it into a small (1 or 2 litre) bucket of your favourite lubricant, put the lid on, then attend to it when you next get the time. This works for Rapalas and other minnow type lures as well.

Actually, I don't do it personally, that's what deckies are for, aren't they?

Maybe "Pure & Simple" non stick spray could work also. After all it is edible. Just don't inhale it.

Cheers

Carl

N.B. Photo of my deckie.

[fisherdad]

I can see how having a Satinless Steel article imbedded in your mouth would cause discomfort and even death through starvation. Its in humaine to leave that type of impact if it can be easily avoided.

On a side issue, why so many Humans pretend to be fish and have their Lips, Tongues and faces peirced with Stainless Steel.

[krill]

Another tree hugger beat up.

Where will it end.

Banning fishing, that's where.

On this logic, we should ban light lines as well. Take a steel hook and fish with too light a line and you could leave a fish with a hook and fifty metres of mono hanging from its gob. Can't imagine that's too good for the appetite.

As explained in detail above, stainless is *required* for certain applications.

Outside these applications I would think most people would be using chemical sharpened non-stainless hooks nowadays.

Like I said, beat up. Next target live baiting. Next target T & R. Next target fishing to eat. Thin end of the wedge.