Table 3. — Catch, effort, and catch-per-hour of billfishes 

 off South Pass, 1966-71. 



Table 4. — Catch, effort, and catch-per-hour of billfishes 

 off northwest Florida, 1971. 



(3,217 h) in 1971. Of the effort expended in north- 

 west Florida, boats from Destin accounted for 69% 

 of the total. 



Blue marlin were more abundant off South Pass 

 than off northwest Florida in 1971, as indicated by 

 the catch-per-hour (0.011 versus 0.008), whereas 

 white marlin (0.034 versus 0.006) and sailfish (0.038 

 versus 0.007) were more abundant off northwest 

 Florida (Tables 3 and 4). 



When raises-per-hour were compared (Table 5), 

 the same conclusions of relative abundance were 

 reached. The reciprocals of raises-per-hour, that is, 

 hours-to-raise-l-fish, are also presented in Table 5. 

 Fewer hours were spent trolling off South Pass to 

 raise a blue marlin (15.9 versus 27.0), whereas 

 fewer hours were spent off northwest Florida for 

 white marlin (1 1.6 versus 19.2) and for sailfish (9.8 

 versus 62.5). 



SIZE AND SEX RATIO 



The range of weights and the average weights for 

 each species for the two areas are presented in Ta- 

 bles 6 and 7. The largest blue marlin, 492.0 lb (223.6 

 kg), caught in 1971 was off South Pass; the largest 

 white marlin, 86.0 lb (39. 1 kg), and the largest sail- 

 fish, 67.0 lb (30.5 kg), were caught off northwest 

 Florida by boats from Destin. For South Pass, the 

 range and average for blue marlin was not unusual; 

 neither was the average for sailfish. However, the 

 largest specimens of white marlin, 84.0 lb (38.2 kg), 

 and of sailfish, 58.5 lb (26.6 kg), were smaller than 

 the largest specimens of each species caught in any 

 previous year of record. And the average weight of 

 white marlin, 61.3 lb (27.9 kg), in 1971 was the high- 

 est ever. 



Females of all three species of billfishes domi- 

 nated the catches. Sex ratios for the years 1967-71 



for South Pass and for 1971 for northwest Florida 

 are presented in Table 8. Only those specimens 

 were examined for which permission was granted. 



The predominance of females in the blue marlin 

 caught off northeastern Gulf of Mexico is contrary 

 to that in blue marlin caught off Puerto Rico and the 

 Virgin Islands (Erdman, 1962, 1968). There, an 

 equal male-female ratio was found during July and 

 August, the months of spawning. In September, the 

 ratio changed to 4.5:1 in favor of males. The annual 

 average for catches of blue marlin from 1950-66 was 

 4:1 in favor of males. 



Sex ratios of white marlin caught off New Jersey 

 and Maryland, like those caught in the northeastern 

 Gulf of Mexico, also favored females. In 1959, the 

 male-female ratio was 1:2.4; in 1960, it was 1:1.2 (de 

 Sylva and Davis, 1963). 



RELATIVE ABUNDANCE BY TIME 



The number of raises per hour was determined 

 for weekly periods and hourly periods. Each week 

 began on a Wednesday and ended on the following 



Table 5. — Relative abundance of billfishes in the north- 

 eastern Gulf of Mexico, 1971. 



Area 



South Pass 



Northwest 

 Florida 



274 



