Table 11. — Relative abundance of billfishes by water color for South Pass, northwest Florida, and the two areas 

 combined, 1971. (BM=blue marlin, WM=white marlin, SF=sailfish). 



could not be determined from the logs. Therefore, 

 since we could not determine the number of fish 

 raised per hour of trolling, we decided to use the 

 percentage of the total number of fish raised as a 

 measure of relative abundance. The data are pre- 

 sented in Table 12. 



As the percentages show, the most productive 

 surface condition off South Pass was along lines or 

 rips. Nearly half of each species was raised along 

 lines or rips. Off northwest Florida, open water was 

 the most productive surface condition, the percent- 



ages ranging from 52% to 67%. Open water was 

 second best off South Pass, while scattered grass 

 was second best off northwest Florida. In the scat- 

 tered grass, grass patches, and others categories, 

 the percentages for blue marlin and white marlin 

 were about equal. Sailfish were twice as abundant 

 along scattered grass off northwest Florida area 

 than off South Pass. 



When the data for the two areas were combined, 

 open water appeared as the best condition, scat- 

 tered grass second, and lines or rips third. 



Table 12. — Surface conditions and billfishing off South Pass, northwest Florida, and the two areas combined, 1971. 



(BM = blue marlin, WM= white marlin, SF = saiirish). 



Surface condition 



Open Water Lines or Rips Scattered Grass Grass Patches 



Others 



Total No. 

 Raised 



Species 



BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF 



South Pass 

 No. of fish raised 

 Percent of total 

 no. raised 27% 30% 29% 46% 45% 48% 19% 20% 21% 3% 4% 2% 5% 1% — — — 



51 



45 



14 87 67 23 



36 30 



10 



1 







189 150 48 



Northwest Florida 

 No. of fish raised 168 436 406 20 68 31 65 125 322 7 6 17 6 15 6 

 Percent of total 

 no. raised 63% 67% 52% 8% 11% 4% 24% 19% 41% 3% 1% 2% 2% 2% 1% 



266 650 782 



Both areas 



No. of fish raised 219 481 420 107 135 54 101 155 332 13 12 18 15 17 6 455 800 830 

 Percent of total 



no. raised 48% 60% 51% 24% 17% 6% 22% 19% 40% 3% 2% 2% 3% 2% 1% — — — 



285 



