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Fishery Bulletin 1 14(3) 
Discussion 
The data clearly indicate that circle hooks outper- 
form J hooks. Circle hooks had both a higher hooking 
rate and capture rate than J hooks. Circle hooks had 
a lower deep-hooking rate and a higher proportion of 
sharks hooked in the jaw — results that are consistent 
with those of many teleost studies (Prince et ah, 2002; 
Skomal et al., 2002). Both the higher catch rate and 
the lower deep-hooking rate indicate that circle hooks 
can improve fishing success and serve as a conserva- 
tion measure for recreational shark fishing. In addi- 
tion, the results of this study indicate that the use of 
circle hooks could increase adherence to the federal 
regulations regarding prohibited shark species — reg- 
ulations that are outlined in a compliance guide for 
highly migratory species (NMFS^). These regulations 
require that shark species for which retention is pro- 
hibited be released in a manner that maximizes the 
probability of their survival. 
^ NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). 2015. HMS 
recreational compliance guide: guide for complying with the 
Atlantic billfishes, swordfish, sharks, and tunas regulations, 
p. 30. Off. Sustainable Fish., Highly Migratory Species 
Manage. Div., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, Silver Spring, 
MD. [Available at website, accessed June 2016.] 
Acknowledgments 
We would like to thank the 3 anonymous reviewers for 
their constructive comments at the manuscript stage. 
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