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I. DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY 

 I. A. History of the Fishery 



The blue marl in ( Makaira nigricans) , striped marl in ( Tetrapturus 

 audax ) , and black marl in (M. indica ) are widely distributed in the Pacific 

 Ocean (Figures 1-3). The major fisheries for these three species are the 

 longline and harpoon fisheries of Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. The first 

 major exploitation of the marl in resources began with the advent of the 

 high-seas longline operations of Japan following World War II. Although 

 the quest was for large tuna species, the gear caught all large fish, of 

 which the marl ins were a significant component. Beginning in the western 

 Pacific, the advancing front of longline operations (Figure 4) reached 

 130°W longitude by 1944 and the American Continents by 1965. Thereafter 

 the fishery expanded southward (Ueyanagi 1974). 



Longline boats of Taiwan and Korea later followed the Japanese in 

 fishing the high seas. The longline fleet of Taiwan, after 40 years of 

 coastal operations, began its high-seas venture in 1954. The longline 

 fleet was composed of 42 boats in 1962, increasing rapidly to 457 boats in 

 1971 (Huang 1974). The major part of the effort, however, has shifted from 

 the Pacific Ocean to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans since 1968 (Table 1). 

 Historic accounts of longline activities of Korea are sketchy but beginning 

 around 1958, Korean longline vessels joined the longline fishing fleet 

 based at American Samoa (Otsu and Sumida 1968). The longline efforts of 

 Taiwan and Korea in the Pacific have been almost entirely in the South 

 Pacific where almost all of their tuna are sold to two American canneries 

 in American Samoa. 



There are other fisheries which catch marl in but these are not far- 

 ranging and their catches are relatively small. A Hawaiian longline 

 fishery, which was started in 1917 (June 1950), reached a peak of 76 boats 

 in 1950 and declined to 18 boats in 1977.-^ The marl in catch in this 

 fishery is primarily striped marl in and secondarily blue marl in. A few 

 black marl in are also caught. 



A harpoon fishery for striped marl in has existed in Japan since 

 ancient times (Ueyanagi 1974). The Japanese introduced the harpoon 

 techniques to Taiwan in 1913 (Huang 1974). Sport trolling for marl ins in 

 the Pacific had its beginnings in the early years of this century. 

 California, Australia, and New Zealand were centers at that time. In the 

 past 30 years, sport fishing for marl ins has experienced a spurt in 



^Fishery management plan for bill fish and associated species. Western 

 Pacific Fishery Management Council, Honolulu, Hawaii. September 1980 

 draft. 



