96 ALBACORA 



thing, but cutting it apart later was a particularly un- 

 attractive-sounding venture. 



"That's all right," Al Pfluger said mercilessly. 

 "I've got enough aprons to go around." 



I looked at Jo and she looked at me. We shrugged and 

 donned aprons. 



"First," Rivas said, deadly serious, "I want you peo- 

 ple to remove this marlin's gonads." He told us where 

 to look and there they were, the two of them. 



"This," Rivas said, "is a male fish. But he recently 

 spent himself. That's why they look so small and nar- 

 row." 



"How could you tell the female?" I asked. 



"The female gonads are grittier," Rivas said. 



"Oh," I said. A pause followed. 



"One thing you can tell from this fish," Rivas said, 

 breaking the silence, "is that a breeding ground for 

 marlin is not far from where he was caught. Probably 

 the eggs he fertilized will hatch not too far from that 

 spot." 



There were more directions, and after we had wiped 

 the blood off our hands, we went back to work — this 

 time on the gill plate. We removed a section of the bone 

 and Rivas studied it closely. 



"This fish is ten years old," he announced. 



"How can you tell?" Jo Manning asked, guardedly. 



"Each ring in the gill plate represents one year of 

 life," Rivas said. 



"Like the rings of a tree?" I asked. 



