A campaign has been launched in the UK to ban multiple hooks and in particular trebles from all disciplines of angling.

The founder of www.singlehooks.org is a life-long angler and strong believer in catch and release, and is looking for the tackle companies to back the movement with a phased in approach that would see treble and double hooks no longer for sale. Indeed the movement wishes to move to a single circle hook only world. Circle hooks usually hook fish in the scissors with little chance of damaging deep hooking.

The website calls on anglers to sign a petition and write to George Eustice MP, Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Charles Walker MP, Chair All-Party Parliamentary Group on Angling, with direct links to make the process simple.

“Angling remains one of our biggest recreational pastimes,” says a spokesman. “In recent years, various UK controls have been to protect native fish and other wildlife. These include a ban on lead weights and use of knotless mesh in landing and keep nets. Phasing out multi-point hooks for all angling pursuits will continue this trend, helping to strengthen fish welfare and native species conservation for future generations.”

“The advantages of single hooks are already widely recognised. Norwegian and Russian fisheries stipulate use of single barbless hooks. For many years this has been standard practice on North American steelhead and cutthroat trout rivers.”