Jumping and pole fishing

This technique is called "jumping and pole fishing" with live bait, due to the characteristics of the procedures based on it and because it uses small live pelagic fish as bait (mackerel, sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel, etc.). As the name suggests, it uses a pole (which varies in size and shape) and the jumping technique, in which the fish is pulled on board in a single movement by jumping. Of course, this maneuver is more difficult with larger fish.

It is an active and dynamic fishery that searches for the schools of tuna on the surface of the sea and lures them to the ship with live bait. In this type of fishing there are two extremely important factors: the great greed of the tuna when feeding, which can sometimes lead to feeding frenzy behavior, and the ability of the fisherman to get around the tuna and lure it to his hook.

One aspect of great interest about tuna fishing in the Azores is that it depends directly on another type of fishing, live bait fishing. In the Azores, this is done with small enclosing nets or "enchelavares" that catch small fish on the shore and store them in large tanks ("tinos") on the ship. Without these small specimens it would not be possible to attract large schools of tuna to the surface.

The ecological importance of jumping and pole fishing

Tuna fishing using skipping and pole fishing with live bait is an important part of the social and cultural heritage of the Azores. Given the global community's concerns about the use of indiscriminate and overly intensive fishing techniques such as drifting and trawling, jumping and pole fishing with live bait should be recognized as a highly selective and environmentally friendly form of fishing as it has no by-catch.

The main reason for this high selectivity is the ease of use by fishermen of the fishing gear used in the Azores. A person typically uses a pole, line, and hook to capture only one individual at a time. The simplicity of the equipment allows the fisherman to select the target species and thereby avoid catching younger fish, non-commercial species or species of conservation importance.

In order to recognize and appreciate the ecological value of this fishing technique, the NGO "Earth Island Institute" has been certifying the tuna fishery in the Azores as "Dolphin Safe" since 1998 as part of its Fisheries of the Azores Monitoring Program (POPA). Recently, the same organization certified the same fishery as one of the first in the world to meet all the criteria for FOS “Friend of the Sea” certification.