659 



Abstract — With a focus on white mar- 

 lin {Tetrapturus albidus), a concurrent 

 electronic tagging and larval sampling 

 effort was conducted in the vicinity 

 of Mona Passage (off southeast His- 

 paniola), Dominican Republic, during 

 April and May 2003. Objectives were 

 1) to characterize the horizontal and 

 vertical movement of adults captured 

 from the area by using pop-up satel- 

 lite archival tags (PSATs); and 2) by 

 means of larval sampling, to investi- 

 gate whether fish were reproducing. 

 Trolling from a sportfishing vessel 

 yielded eight adult white marlin and 

 one blue marlin (Makaira nigricans); 

 PSAT tags were deployed on all but 

 one of these individuals. The excep- 

 tion was a female white marlin that 

 was unsuitable for tagging because 

 of injury; the reproductive state of its 

 ovaries was examined histologically. 

 Seven of the PSATs reported data 

 summaries for water depth, tempera- 

 ture, and light levels measured every 

 minute for periods ranging from 28 to 

 40 days. Displacement of marlin from 

 the location of release to the point of 

 tag pop-up ranged from 31.6 to 267.7 

 nautical miles (nmi) and a mean dis- 

 placement was 3.4 nmi per day for 

 white marlin. White and blue marlin 

 mean daily displacements appeared 

 constrained compared to the results 

 of other marlin PSAT tagging stud- 

 ies. White marlin ovarian sections 

 contained postovulatory follicles and 

 final maturation-stage oocytes, which 

 indicated recent and imminent spawn- 

 ing. Neuston tows (/i=23) yielded 18 

 istiophorid larvae: eight were white 

 marlin, four were blue marlin, and 

 six could not be identified to species. 

 We speculate that the constrained 

 movement patterns of adults may 

 be linked to reproductive activity 

 for both marlin species, and, if true, 

 these movement patterns may have 

 several implications for management. 

 Protection of the potentially impor- 

 tant white marlin spawning ground 

 near Mona Passage seems warranted, 

 at least until further studies can be 

 conducted on the temporal and spatial 

 extent of reproduction and associated 

 adult movement. 



Movements and spawning of 

 white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) 

 and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) 

 off Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 



Eric D. Prince 1 

 Robert K. Cowen 2 

 Eric S. Orbesen' 

 Stacy A. Luthy 2 

 Joel K. Llopiz 2 

 David E. Richardson 2 

 Joseph E. Serafy' 



1 Southwest Fisheries Science Center 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 75 Virginia Beach Drive 



Miami, Florida 33149 



E-mail address (for E D Prince): eric pnnce@noaa gov 



2 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science 

 Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries 

 University of Miami 



4600 Rickenbacker Causeway 

 Miami, Florida 33149 



Manuscript submitted 24 June 2004 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 31 March 2005 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull. 103:659-669 (2005). 



White marlin {Tetrapturus albidus) 

 and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) 

 are widely distributed throughout the 

 tropical and temperate waters of the 

 Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas; the 

 former species is endemic only to the 

 Atlantic Ocean (Mather et al., 1975). 

 Genetic analyses and tag recapture 

 data have indicated that each spe- 

 cies has a single Atlantic-wide popu- 

 lation (ICCAT, 1998). Several stock 

 assessment indicators indicate that 

 the white marlin population has been 

 severely overfished for several decades 

 (ICCAT, 2001, 2002). The Atlan- 

 tic blue marlin stock is also heavily 

 over-exploited, but to a lesser degree. 

 The main source of adult mortality 

 for both stocks is the multinational 

 offshore longline fisheries that, in the 

 process of targeting tunas (Scombri- 

 dae) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius), 

 land the marlins as bycatch (ICCAT, 

 2002, 2003). 



Despite their economic and ecologi- 

 cal value, little is known about the 

 biology and ecology of Atlantic mar- 

 lins (Prince and Brown, 1991). This 

 is especially true regarding the repro- 



ductive biology of white marlin and 

 adult movement patterns in spawning 

 areas (Baglin, 1979; Mather, 1975; 

 White Marlin Status Review Team 1 ; 

 SEFSC 2 ). Long-term (i.e., >40 years) 

 commercial (Goodyear, 2003) and rec- 

 reational (i.e., Cabeza de Toro Billfish 

 Tournament, Graves and McDowell, 

 1995; Casilla 3 ) fishing records indi- 

 cate that, every spring, white marlin 

 are present in relatively high numbers 

 off the southeastern coast of Hispan- 

 iola. This observation, coupled with 



1 White Marlin Status Review Team. 

 2002. Atlantic White Marlin Status 

 Review Document, 49 p. Report to 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, South- 

 east Regional Office, 263 13 th Avenue, 

 St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5511. 



2 SEFSC ( Southeast Fisheries Science Cen- 

 ter). 2004. Atlantic Billfish Research 

 Plan. National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 

 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 

 33149-1003. 



3 Casilla, W. 2003. Personal commun. 

 Club Nautico de Santo Domingo, Calle 

 Juan Baron Fajardo #2, Ensanche 

 Iantini, Santo Domingo, Dominican 

 Republic. 



