According to a report scientists have developed a new type of fishing hook that aims to reduce the amount sharks accidentally caught from commercial fishing. Scientists confirmed that the new hook, The SMART Hook (Selective Magnetic and Repellent-Treated Hook), is a combination of two shark repellent technologies — magnetism and shark-repellent metal — into standard fishing hooks capable of interfering with the highly sensitive electrical sense found in a shark’s nose.
The main purpose behind such a hook is that sharks will avoid these hooks, leaving them baited for market-valuable fish, such as tuna, that do not have an electrical sense and won’t be repelled by the hook. Shark Defense researcher Patrick Rice has asuccessfully tested the SMART Hooks with the support of a National Science Foundation (NSF) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant.
The test happened by conducting feeding trials with bonnethead sharks. The sharks were simultaneously given bait attached to regular hooks and Smart Hooks, both with their barbs removed to ensure the sharks were not injured. Researchers found a 66 percent reduction of baits eaten from small, recreational-sized hooks and a 94 percent reduction of baits eaten from larger, commercial-sized hooks, following a total of 50 tests with two different groups of sharks.
Craig O’Connell, a researcher, said in a Shark Defense press release, that combining a magnetic repellent with a galvanic repellent is very important, because many studies have shown that sharks behave differently to magnets or metals alone. He added that there are many species of shark, and they seek out their prey differently.
