the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Off Taiwan, blactc 

 marlin are taken along the east coast by the longline 

 and harpoon fisheries. This species is caught year- 

 round; however, best catches are made from Oc- 

 tober to April. Black marlin are reported to spawn 

 in the offshore waters of Taiwan from August to 

 October. It is one of the largest of the marlins 

 caught in Taiwan. The species is also considered a 

 good food fish in Taiwan. 

 5. Sailfish, Istiophonts platypterus. 



In Chinese the sailfish is called "Yii San Ch'i 

 Yii"; also called "Ho Soan Ki Hi"" or "Pua Ho 

 Soan-a" by local fishermen. Sailfish enter the 

 Taiwan inshore waters more often than any other 

 species of billfish. In Taiwan sailfish are caught 

 year-round along the entire coast of the island by 

 longline, harpoon, and other fishing gear. From 



April to July and from October to December, the 

 fishermen catch large numbers of sailfish in the 

 Bashi Channel located near southern Taiwan. Dur- 

 ing the fishing season, sailfish often occur in 

 schools in the Kuroshio Current. 



Sailfish have been observed to swim with their 

 high dorsal fins exposed and chasing sardine, squid, 

 or other smaller prey. Fishermen find it fairly easy 

 to harpoon sailfish; however, once harpooned the 

 sailfish will leap and twist in an effort to shake 

 loose. 



Adult sailfish with mature gonads have been re- 

 ported by fishermen in southern Taiwan waters 

 from April through August. This species grows to 2 

 m in length and 60 kg in weight. In comparison with 

 other species, sailfish are not considered a good 

 food fish by the Chinese people. 



Table 3. — Annual landings (in metric tons) of billfish by Taiwan deep-sea longiiners by 



ocean, 1967-1971. 



334 



