The new Puffin brand of stainless steel fishing hooks and accessories has both surprised and challenged many people in the commercial fishing industry, the manufacturer Beko-Dimon told WF.
Beko-Dimon Fishing Co is an Indo-Icelandic joint venture (JV) company, specialising in the production of high quality stainless steel and hi-carbon steel longlining hooks, including ez baiters, circle and tuna hooks.
Ez baiter hooks form the majority of the JV’s production. They are available from size 10/0 to 15/0, with or without being rigged with snoods and line. These hooks are popularly used in Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands, the US (Seattle), Russia, Korea, New Zealand and some Latin America countries.
“We surprised our competitors by offering these stainless steel hooks, which we believe work as effectively as hi-carbon hooks and are also competitively priced,” said a Beko-Dimon spokesman.
Intense speculation followed the hooks’ launch, with many in the industry questioning whether these hooks were indeed manufactured from stainless steel, and if so whether they could work as well as hi-carbon steel hooks.
“It took time but [the doubters] were proven wrong and it was shown that not only do these stainless hooks perform well but they also have much better rust resistance, giving fishermen [better] value for their money.
“Probably the same happened when stainless hooks were introduced earlier into the market for the manufacture of tuna, circle and longlining hooks. However, the market for these hooks has grown over the years because they work well.”
The spokesman conceded that many fishermen remain in the industry who prefer hi-carbon hooks and for those customers Beko-Dimon is offering its high quality hi-carbon hooks.
Its production facility situated in the hill city of Nilgiris in southern India, is one of very few cities in India that adheres to very strict pollution controls.
“Its a known fact that producing stainless hooks, especially polishing them at a competitive price is in itself a major challenge for manufacturers and having them produced under these strict conditions up in the hills in Nilgiris with such tough laws is another major hurdle, but we’re proud to say that the entire facility right from the machinery to the polishing has been developed in house with skilled engineers, technicians and chemists and is completely eco-friendly.”
Puffin stainless ez baiters have been produced to adhere to all the requisites and in many cases better the most popular hi-carbon hooks of similar type. They can be bent back to shape at least 5-8 times without becoming too brittle.
The puffin hi-carbon ez baiters are of an equally high quality, but the spokesman said they definitely lose out to stainless hooks when it comes to resisting rust and re-bending.
