What is Sea Bass?

Chilean Sea Bass is an FDA recognized 'alternative market name' for two similar species, Patagonian Toothfish Dissostichus Eleginoides and Antarctic Toothfish Dissostichus Mawsoni. Patagonian Toothfish show a preference for water in the 5 - 10 degree Celsius range and may be found in latitudes from 40° to 60° South while Antarctic Toothfish occur beyond 50° S and in water temperatures down to minus 1° C. Both species are benthopelagic (living and feeding just above the bottom) and eurybathic (able to tolerate a range of depths) inhabiting depths from under 100 to more than 2000 Meters. Specimens up to 100 Kg in weight and measuring well over 2 M have been recorded. Patagonian Toothfish reach sexual maturity around 10 years of age while their Antarctic cousins mature at about 15. Both may live to 40+. This slow life cycle makes them very susceptible to over-exploitation.

Juvenile Patagonian Toothfish (public domain)

Known as Bacalao de Profundidad (Cod of the deep) in Chile, Patagonian Toothfish was an occasional by-catch of Chilean bottom fishermen until, in 1977, a prospecting US fish trader by the name of Lee Lantz spotted one at a fish market there. Mr Lantz concluded that the white flesh, subtle taste and 'buttery' feel were ideally suited for the US market. The culinary name under which he chose to introduce the fish was Chilean Sea Bass.

Researcher Dr. Christopher Jones with large Antarctic Toothfish (public domain)

So a southern ocean fishery emerged that, by the mid 1990's, had spiraled right out of control and at its peak had an estimated global IUU (Illegal Unreported Unregulated) take over four times the allocated quotas. It took governments and NGOs the next 20 years to regain control. Conservation group Sea Shepherd's much publicized two year long campaign Operation Icefish was instrumental in bringing the last few of the notorious syndicate owned, convenience flagged Toothfish poaching ships to book. The Thunder was scuttled by her crew off Sao Tome in April 2015 while being chased by Sea Shepherd's Sam Simon. The Kunlun was detained in Senegal the same year and the Viking was detained, rigged with demolition charges and blown up by Indonesian authorities in 2016.

Patagonian Toothfish distribution (image compiled by H)

South Africa's Prince Edward Islands EEZ was hit hard by the poaching fleet. According to the CCAMLR 'Fishery Report 2016', an estimated 5000 Tons p/a were taken there illegally in the mid 1990's in addition to a declared catch of around 1000 Tons. By the time the poaching stopped in 2006 fish stocks had collapsed. The zone produced a mere 72 Tons in 2009. The Toothfish population has been showing some signs of a recovery since, but no recognized stock assessment has been done. This lack of information is perhaps the main reason why the fish is not even listed with SASSI. Seafood Watch lists 'our' Toothfish red.

Antarctic Toothfish distribution (image compiled by H)

SA's current Patagonian Toothfish TAC (total allowable catch) is set at 575 Tons per Annum. Fishing is done in sub areas 58.6 and 58.7 and part of area 51 around the Prince Edward Islands. The fishery comprises (FRAP Final list of 01 Dec 2016) four long term (15 year) rights holders fishing two longline vessels. Ziyabuya Fishing has the largest share of the TAC which is 'harvested' by the Koryo Maru No. 11. This vessel is owned by Tafisa, a subsidiary of Japan's Maruha Nichiro corporation who are one of the major players in the global seafood game. The company started by trading fish and later pioneered whaling in the Antarctic although it has been working hard to portray a Whale and Dolphin friendly image of late. The other three rights holders are Bato Star Fishing, Arniston Fish Processors and Suidor Fishing. All three make use of the vessel El Shaddai which is owned by Durban based Braxton Security Services. They, together with I&J who were previous rights holders also utilizing the El Shaddai, only caught an average of 46 % of their quota over the last 10 years. Signs of an unhealthy fishery with a questionable TAC.

Screenshot of 10/06/2017, Tradekey, Toothfish for sale

While the infamous Toothfish syndicate ships appear to be gone it is unclear if all nations are in fact willing and / or able to play along. South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique have shown good intentions but have all been in the headlines before for what amounts to laundering IUU catch. A look on Tradekey for example shows Ngwabe Trading advertising the ability to supply 200 Tons of frozen Toothfish per Month!  See above. If there's not a mistake in their posting one should question where that fish would be coming from.

Trends in Hooks

Up until the turn of the Millennium most South African saltwater anglers fished with a very limited range of hooks. By far the most common style was the ubiquitous Mustad 92247 (and numerous copies thereof) nickel plated 'bait holder' beak hook. Hand-line fishermen used tinned 7255 O'Shaughnessy style hooks which were also the only readily available (and affordable) large hooks as most others stopped around 9/0 size. Then there were the bronzed Aberdeen style hooks as well as the famous 4826 Kendal Round, the latter as popular on GT spoons as for targeting large Musselcracker known to mangle lesser hooks. All were blunt by modern standards and all had barbs.

'J' Hooks: 92247, 4826 Kendal Round, Mustad Big Gun, Daiichi 3111

Modern trends include sharper (eg. 'chemically sharpened') hooks, often with shorter shanks and refinements to the point and bend - Mustad 'Big Gun' and Daiichi 3111 being good examples. Two additional 'recent' trends (in fact both have been seen on bone hooks pre-dating the iron age) are 'going barbless' and the use of 'circle' hooks. Although primarily conservation oriented, hook performance appears to be at least on par.

VMC Sea Circle, original barb, flattened barb

Going barbless is really a no-brainer. While 'off the shelf' barbless hooks are still quite rare barbs are easily flattened (rather than removed) with fishing pliers or, in the case of heavy duty game fish hooks, a crimping tool. Most modern hooks flatten well, unlike the old Kendals whose large barb left a sizable lump. My first exposure to the idea was years ago in a writeup by US angling legends Mark Sosin and Lefty Kreh who wanted to obtain footage of the aerobatics of hooked Tarpon. They theorized that by removing the barbs they would be able to give some slack and 'drop' the fish after the initial aerial displays without having to go through the tug-of-war stages of the fight, thereby maximizing filming time. To their surprise Tarpon were not able to throw barbless hooks with any greater ease while their hook-up ratio had improved. Going barbless is an established practice on our West Coast, in a large part thanks to the efforts of well known researcher Dr. Vincent Taylor. Among WP's rock & surf club fishermen everyone knows about "West Coast (barbless) rules" although I am told that a number of West Coast anglers have switched to circles 'instead'.

False Bay's Jacques Oosthuizen measuring his 'Bronzie' prior to release

According to "The Science of Catch and Release angling" by Dr. Warren Potts of Rhodes University, studies on released fish showed survival rates from 25% to 98% with the valid point made that releasing a fish is only worth it if the fish survives. The handling before release causes stress, hypoxia from air exposure and risk of infection due to scale and mucus removal in addition to tissue damage caused by the removal of the hook. A barb increases the size of the wound and lengthens handling time thereby reducing the chance of survival. Please note that in the case of fish hooked 'deep' anglers are advised to cut the line rather than remove the hook. Studies on released Dusky Kob have shown that very few mouth-hooked fish died but of those that had swallowed the (presumably barbed) hook 73% died when the angler removed the hook while only 16% died when the angler cut the line off near the hook - many being able to expel the hook within 5 days. A study on Bonefish further showed that "barbless hooks were expelled 3,9 times faster when located deep in the oral cavity compared to barbed hooks".

Screenshot, Attwood 2007, CPUE, J-Hook vs Circle

Unlike barbless hooks that are fished much the same way as any similar barbed hook, circles do require some adaptation in technique. Being designed to let a fish hook itself in the side of the mouth after swimming off with the bait, 'striking' will likely result in a 'miss' and the angler should instead 'wind the fish on'. Less seasoned anglers tend to get better hook-up ratios using circle hooks which are therefore regularly used on charter boats. Among experienced anglers tallies are much the same as was shown by Prof. Colin Attwood's research at De Hoop nature reserve. For species such as Galjoen, Musselcracker and Belman catch rates were higher with circle hooks while J-hooks performed better for Elf and White Steenbras. See graph above. The research also confirmed that circle hooks resulted in a far lesser likelihood of hooking a fish in the vulnerable stomach or gill areas and increased the likelihood of hooking a fish in the lip or jaw. See graph below. Noteworthy too is that "The average number of sinkers lost per day by anglers ... dropped from 12 to 4 when they switched to circle hooks".

Screenshot, Attwood 2007, Hooking Tendencies, J-Hook vs Circle

Among the current trend-setters is Hawaii where the NOAA has been actively promoting the use of barbless circle hooks, as much due to accidental hook-ups of endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals and Green Sea Turtles as for the benefit of fish. Whether this is the obvious future or one step too far remains to be seen but their initially reluctant local fishermen are warming up to the idea and barbless circles have already logged a number of wins – with fish around 100 pounds - in Hawaii's famous "Ulua" (GT) tournaments. Way to go!