but it would appear that the development of billfish 

 angling would be limited in this area because of the 

 probable scarcity of billfish. According to longline 

 records, black marlin and sailfish are found in con- 

 centrations in the various seas throughout In- 

 donesia. Striped marlin are common south of Java. 



Micronesia and Melanesia, including New 

 Guinea. — Black marlin occur in commercial quan- 

 tities close to New Guinea, but these fish are not 

 sought by anglers. High concentrations of black mar- 

 lin and sailfish occur in the East Java Sea, and the 

 area between New Guinea and Australia, as well as 

 in the Caroline and Solomon Islands and the Banda 

 and Timor Seas. While these areas are not presently 

 fished by anglers, they may offer good sportfishing 

 potential. 



Goadby (1970:71) wrote that "big fish are all 

 through these islands,"' referring to the New Heb- 

 rides, the Solomons, Tonga, the Gilbert and EUice 

 Islands, and Western Samoa. Blue marlin are com- 

 mon about New Hebrides, while New Caledonia has 

 blacks and blues. In Samoa there are two commer- 

 cial tuna canneries at Pago Pago; the Japanese report 

 high catches of tuna, together with billfishes, from 

 these waters. Blues, blacks, and sails are common 

 offshore. Good potential sportfishing areas for 

 blues exist throughout the Marshall and Marianas 

 Islands, while Papua and New Guinea yield small 

 black marlin and sailfish. 



Near Fiji, big black marlin estimated at nearly 700 

 kg have been taken by commercial fishermen on 

 hand- and longlines working off Suva and Koro 

 Levu. These large blacks are especially prevalent 

 during October. Sailfish up to nearly 80 kg and big 

 blue marlin are not uncommon. 



Australia. — When dealing with sport fishing in the 

 Pacific, it is difficuh to refer to anything but Peter 

 Goadby's recent book, "Big Fish and Blue Water" 

 (Goadby, 1970). In addition to tracing the history of 

 big-game fishing off this productive coastline, 

 Goadby deals with the actual and potential fishing 

 for various billfishes from the major Pacific ports. 

 The serious or potential angler is referred, therefore, 

 to his book. A few of the high points involve the 

 superb billfishing in Australia. Off Queensland, in 

 the northeast, huge black marlin in the 450- to 550-kg 

 class have been taken with increasing frequency. 

 Fishing off Cairns and all along the Great Barrier 

 Reef yields blacks, as do the areas of South Queens- 

 land and New South Wales. Sailfish are commonly 

 taken off the Great Barrier Reef off North Queens- 

 land, while New South Wales is good for striped 



marlin. There are no authenticated records of any 

 species of marlin taken from waters off Tasmania, 

 although swordfish are taken from these cool waters. 

 Off Western Australia, black marlin and sailfish are 

 occasionally taken, while longline records show 

 heavy concentrations of black marlin off North- 

 western Australia. 



Among the many firsts for Australia, listed by 

 Goadby, is the first record of a shortbill spearfish 

 (20-1- kg) taken on rod and reel, off Port Stephens 

 north of Sydney. 



New Zealand.— Since Zane Grey's early big- 

 game fishing operations, northern New Zealand 

 waters have been a continued attraction for fishing 

 for swordfish and striped marlin. The Bay of Is- 

 lands yields many large striped marlin as well as 

 large black marlin, and in recent years more blues 

 have been caught, possibly because anglers have 

 only recently been aware of their presence in the 

 South Pacific. 



French Polynesia and the Line Islands. 

 — Heavy concentrations of blue marlin have 

 been reported by Japanese longliners to occur 

 throughout the Society Islands and the Tuamotu 

 archipelago. Reports of giant blue marlin taken by 

 native fishermen continue to emanate from Tahiti, 

 but blue marlin sport fishing based in Tahiti has 

 not yet been widely developed. A blue marlin es- 

 timated at over 1,140 kg was caught off Moorea by 

 a commercial fisherman, and blues over 330 kg are 

 common. The black marlin frequently taken in 

 waters off Tahiti exhibit a pale color phase, which 

 Zane Grey referred to as the "silver marlin." 

 Large sailfish are frequently taken off Tahiti, one 

 of which weighed nearly 90 kg. 



The Hawaiian Islands. — Last, but not at all 

 least, are the Hawaiian Islands, whose sport fish- 

 ing catches are world famous. Of course, the Kona 

 coast continues to yield good catches of blue mar- 

 lin and striped marlin. Blue marlin are also taken 

 close to Oahu over the nearby banks. A huge blue 

 marlin (an 820-kg fish) was taken off Oahu; how- 

 ever, it was ineligible for IGFA recognition be- 

 cause several anglers fought the fish. During 

 periods of cooler water, striped marlin are com- 

 mon. Goadby (1970) reported that Kauai, the 

 western side of Molokai, and the south coast of 

 Maui are all excellent grounds for billfishing. Sail- 

 fish are occasionally caught by anglers, while 

 spearfish and swordfish are taken by commercial 

 longliners. For further detailed information on 

 Hawaiian billfishing, Goadby's book is the source. 



21 



