a slight shift to the south during the southern sum- 

 mer, particularly in the first quarter of the year. 



Only one general area of high abundance of blue 

 marlin occurs in the eastern Pacific, that is in the 

 south between lat. 15°-25°S and long. 110°-130°W, 

 and during the southern summer. Catches of this 



species in the rest of the eastern Pacific are quite 

 low except for sporadic good catches in the Panama 

 Bight. 



Few blue marlin are taken in the sport and subsis- 

 tence fisheries of the eastern Pacific and therefore 

 not much data are available on the distribution of 



Figure 7. — Average number of striped marlin caught per 1,000 hooks by Japanese 

 longline vessels in the eastern Pacific by quarters, 1956-1970, by 5-degree areas, a. 

 First quarter, b. Second quarter, c. Third quarter, d. Fourth quarter. 



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