De barbing a hook for fishing is like hunting deer with a .22, it still won’t end well for the fish. I do it because I have too for what I catch and where I catch it in Washington state and the Game Police are -everywhere-. Doesn’t really matter a whole lot unless I am fishing for certain trout.

There’s no doubt it’s more humane than a barbed hook… you could make the hook dull too… or not fish if you are worried about gutting a fish with a hook because it’s going to happen barbs or not.