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Fishery for Pacific Billfish off Southern California and Mexico, 1903‐69
Author(s) -
Talbot Gerald B.,
Wares Paul G.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1975)104<1:ffpbos>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishery , geography , oceanography , biology , geology
Sport fishing for striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) began off southern California in 1903. Catches of this species have fluctuated widely. Some of the annual variation in catch (15% to 25%) may be attributable to variations in water temperatures. When the marlin season ends in southern California, usually in November, some fishermen who own yachts begin fishing for billfish in Mexican waters, particularly near Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, Baja California. This fishing is restricted to winter and spring because of severe tropical storms which occur in the summer, and lack of protective harbors except at La Paz. Access by land or air to good billfishing in Mexico became available in 1936 at Guaymas, in 1949 at Acapulco and La Paz, in 1958 at Mazatlán, and at several locations between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas shortly thereafter. Fishing for billfish in Mexico now accounts for an estimated expenditure annually of about $10 million by United States citizens, and is the major business in lower Baja California. While sport fishing facilities were being developed in Mexico, the Japanese moved their longline fishery eastward in search of better fishing grounds. They first fished in eastern Pacific waters in 1956, and gradually increased their fishing effort to a peak in 1969. This increase in effort produced lower catches and lower catches per unit of effort than previously had been made for the three species of marlin (T. audax; Makaira nigricans; M. indica) and Pacific sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) found in Mexican Pacific waters. The decline of the fishery and the decrease in the average weight of striped marlin since commercial long‐line fishing began indicates that overfishing is probably occurring. Sport fishing for billfish in Mexico is now much less spectacular than in the 1930ˈs to the 1950ˈs but still is better than in most other areas. If further reduction in abundance occurs, international cooperation should be undertaken to maintain these populations at a level where they will concurrently support productive sport and commercial fisheries.