Posted 02 April 2011, by David Young, Coloradoan.com, coloradoan.com
Fort Collins resident Patrick Mike Callaway spent 14 years in Valdez, Alaska, as a fishing charter operator, where he saw the need for a tool to help save fish that live in extremely deep water, specifically rockfish.
When Callaway, better known as “Ace” to his friends, and his customers or commercial fishermen caught fish that have a natural habitat of about 10,000 feet below the water’s surface, the fish get the equivalent of what divers call the bends. The fish’s eyes balloon out of their sockets and their stomachs fill with air and distend. Often, these fish are just thrown back and die because they aren’t able to swim back to their natural deep-water habitat, said Callaway , who figured there had to be a responsible way to save them.
“I’d see this behind commercial boats because they just are dumping (fish) out the back of the boat,” Callaway said. “You can almost walk across the dead fish out there; it’s a travesty.”
The solution Callaway invented to save the discarded fish is the BlackTip Catch and Release Fish Recom-pression Tool.
The idea is simple enough, he said. The tool attaches a clamp to a fish’s jaw and enables anglers to safely return fish they have caught to their original depth by hand, rod and reel or downrigger with a weight attached until the device hits the sea floor. There, it automatically releases the fish, which is able to safely swim away.
Rockfish, along with yellow eye and red snapper, are the main fish the tool has been used for. Callaway said rockfish are an important part of the Earth’s ecosystem and often live more than 200 years in the same area of the ocean. If an area is fished too much, he said, there is concern about killing off the fish if they are not returned to the water properly.
“I’d rather save a million fish than make a million bucks,” Callaway said. “I’d like this to be my legacy.”
It took Callaway five years to perfect the tool’s design, and he invested 10 years of his life, along with $10,000, to get a 20-year patent on the invention.
He has been giving the tool away to anglers across the world to test and reported the survivability rate of the fish is about 100 percent. It went on the market last month for $49.99.
Callaway’s product won the 2011 Green Product of the Year at the boat supply company West Marine, which included a $10,000 prize. More than 40 applicants submitted their invention in 2010.
Nine judges met and selected the recompression tool because of the difference it will make in sustainability, according to West Marine.
Callaway said his next task is trying to adapt his invention to handle more than one fish at a time so commercial fishermen will be able to use it in large-scale operations.
“We have to be the first line of conservation to ensure our sport continues,” Callaway said. “We as sportsman are stewards of our environment. … You have to take responsibility for your planet. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fish or a tree.”
