Comment from Jim Rizzuto

I am writing in regard to the proposed rule changes involving the Hawaii troll fishery for tuna and in particular to the refernce noted as Rizzuto, J. 2007. I am the author of that reference and disagree with the way it is being used and extrapolated. I have observed and written about the Hawaii troll fishery for 50 years and have heard of only once instance where a spotted dolphin may have run afoul of a troll fisherman's hooks. I wrote about that instance because if so, it is so rare. The incident itself came to me as a third-hand account without the who, what, when and where needed to establish it as real data. Without those details and as a hearsay statement, it would not be admissible as evidence in any matter of importance. Indeed, the account is significant by its rarity and by the inclusion of the information that the dolphin was treated gently and cut loose without suffering the stress of being brought close to the boat. If, indeed, this was not just a "fish story," the dolphin was cut loose with every expectation it would rid itself of the hook. Shedding the hook is very reasonable considering that fish do it all of the time. When troll fishermen put a hooked mahimahi or ono in the fishbox, the fish almost always shakes the hooks free in a few moments. Dolphin are, of course, even more clever than fish. The use of this very iffy incident to support a rule change in the troll fishery is an example of how flimsy the evidence is for such a need and calls into question the whole basis for considering a change.