Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | N | National Fisherman

Auto response: more and more fishermen are being won over by longlining systems that help a boat's skipper and crews save time and make more money.

Article Excerpt
Ask William Hankins, of Seward, Alaska, to expound upon the biggest changes since he installed a Mustad Autoline automatic baiting system aboard his 69-foot longliner, Chandalar, and he'll say more family time.

Hankins, 34, has fished blackcod and halibut in the Gulf of Alaska since he was 14. Hence he's long familiar with the chore of baiting hooks by hand and carefully stacking tubs of baited longline gear along the shelves of his shelter deck.

But Hankins woke up to the possibilities of an automatic baiter in 1992. That's when he made a trip with his brother Mike, who was running the Prowler, as it fished for Pacific cod in the Bering Sea. Hankins saw the Prowler's automatic baiter at work.

"I saw the changes coming right then," he recalls.

Back then, automatic baiters were configured to bait modified J hooks, which greatly cut down on the time spent baiting at the docks and at sea. There was a compromise, however, in that fishermen forfeited the higher catch rate achieved with circle hooks.

Since then, time and technology have overcome the circle-hook challenge. And an increasing number of fishermen have converted their back decks to accommodate automatic-baiting systems.

Two years ago, Hankins was visiting aboard the Kruzof, a longliner and freezer boat belonging to his friend Jim Hubbard. Hankins became intrigued with the Mustad Autoline system on the Kruzof and decided right then to make it part of his fishing operation.

"The biggest decision in favor of...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!