Fish & Dive Expo 2014

I checked out the Hawaii Fish and Dive Expo this past weekend, and unlike the Ocean Expo held in April, there were many more products at show prices for sale.  I saw dive masks, fins, guns, knives, just about everything you needed to get started free diving.  On the fishing side, there were rods, spinning and conventional reels, ulua plugs, stainless steel rod holders, etc. I didn’t need any of that but I did pick up a spool of Seaguar Blue Label fluorocarbon leader at a great price.

Kurt of the Barbless Circle Hook Project

I spent some time talking with Kurt Kawamoto of NOAA’s Barbless Circle Hook Project.  Kurt teams up with DLNR’s Earl Miyamoto and goes out to shorecasting tournaments, schools and fishing expos to educate the fishing community on the use of barbless circle hooks.   These hooks have been proven to be easily removed by human and even self removed by accidentally hooked Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles.  The barbless circle hooks have been adopted by some of the most respected and prodigious shore casters and are believed to not diminish catch ratios.  Their goal is to provide a way for fishermen to co-exist with the protected monk seals and green sea turtles in the least impactful way.  Here’s the link to the Barbless Circle Hook Facebook page.

Kurt, a marine biologist, explained why we’re seeing so many juvenile reef fish this year.  Here’s the simplified version (or at least how I understood in): Reef fish spawn on the reef and the fertilized eggs are pulled out into the deep by ocean currents.  These reef fish actually develop as fry far away from the protection of the reef, and have to rely on ocean currents to help them get back home.  Something, probably warmer than normal water, triggered a massive spawn of most of the reef fish this spring, and pelagic fish like bottom fish, tuna, mahis, etc are being caught with baby reef fish in their stomachs.  The currents were favorable to push these fry back onto the reef, which is why we saw such an abundance of the herbivore fry as well as oama and baby papios.  Nature will work things out such that most of the abundance will be consumed by larger fish.

The Expo had a nice blend of products to buy and informational booths.  Another must see Expo to visit next year.