Angler Catch Rates of Billfishes in the Pacific Ocean 



JAMES L. SQUIRE, JR. 



ABSTRACT 



In 1969, 1970, and 1971 marine game fish anglers participating in the Pacific phase of the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service cooperative marine game fish tagging program were asked to complete a 

 postcard form which requested information of the number of days of billfishing the angler engaged in and 

 the catches made. From the 17,876 angler days reported, the catch consisted of 10,234 billfishes. The 

 average for the 3-yr period was 0.57 billfish per angler-day or 1.75 days of fishing per billfish. Analysis of 

 data for the geographical areas in the eastern Pacific and Australia (Queensland) where billfishing is 

 conducted resulted in a wide range of catch per effort for all billfish species combined. Off southern 

 California, U.S.A., the catch was 0.10 fish per angler-day, equaling 10.3 days of fishing per fish. Off Baja 

 California, Mexico, records show 0.82 fish per angler-day equaling 1.22 days fishing per fish, and fishing 

 off Mazatlan yielded 1.21 fish per angler-day and 0.82 days fishing per fish. Off Acapuico, Mexico, the 

 results were 0.95 fish per angler-day and 1.05 days per fish. Fishing off Australia the records show 0.55 

 fish per angler-day equaling 1.83 days per fish. 



The measurement of catch rates is of value in 

 evaluating fishing success relative to seasonal 

 changes, specific types of fishing gear or changes in 

 gear, and effects of environmental change. How- 

 ever, its greatest use has been in the determination of 

 the effect of fishing on the stock or stocks of fish 

 being utilized by sport and commercial fisheries. 



The only comprehensive sources of catch and ef- 

 fort data for billfishes in the Pacific Ocean are the 

 reports of the commercial longline fishery for tunas 

 and billfishes published by the Research Division of 

 the Japanese Fisheries Agency. These data have 

 been used by researchers in the eastern Pacific in 

 determination of commercial catch rates for bill- 

 fishes (Suda and Schaefer, 1965; Kume and 

 Schaefer, 1966; Kume and Joseph, 1969). 



The billfish sport fishery in the northeastern 

 Pacific off Mexico and the United States is reported 

 to capture at least 10,000 fish each year (Talbot-); 

 however no accurate totals for sport-caught bill- 

 fishes are available. The number of billfishes taken 

 by the sport fishery is a fraction of that landed by the 

 commercial fishery. However, the economic value 



'Southwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice. NOAA, La Jolla. CA 90237. 



-Talbot, Gerald B., U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wild- 

 life, Clemson University, P.O. Box 429, Clemson, S.C. Personal 

 communication. 



of the sport fishery resulting from the expenditure 

 for goods and services by the thousands of billfish 

 anglers in the pursuit of the sport is assumed to be 

 substantial. 



The problems in obtaining a measure of catch and 

 effort in marine sport fisheries are many. In contrast 

 to a commercial fishery, where commercial landings 

 and sometimes fishing records are kept and the 

 number of operating units is known, the sport fishery 

 consists of many small and mobile units which may 

 or may not land their billfishes at locations where a 

 record of the landing might be made. A report on 

 the problem of obtaining sport fishery statistics was 

 made by the Institute of Statistics, University of 

 North Carolina (D. W. Hayne, 1964^) and many of 

 the observations in that report are applicable to the 

 design of a statistically accurate billfish angler sur- 

 vey. 



As part of the cooperative marine game fish tag- 

 ging program, conducted first at the Tiburon Marine 

 Laboratory, Tiburon, California, and later at the 

 Southwest Fisheries Center, La Jolla, California, an 

 annual report describing the progress in billfish tag- 



^ Hayne, D. W..The measurement of catch and effort in marine 

 sportfishing. Report to the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife, September 15, 1964. Institute of Statistics, Raleigh Sec- 

 tion, North Carolina State, University of North Carolina, memo, 

 23 p. 



290 



