January 1973, some 9,000 of these fish had been mark- 

 ed in that area, and 144 tags had been returned. 



The times of arrival in the various fishing grounds, 

 and observations of the behavior of the fish 

 themselves (Farrington, 1937) indicate that the white 

 marlin which concentrate in summer in the Cape 

 Hatteras-Cape Cod area first enter its southern por- 

 tions then move northward and eastward along the 

 coast as the season advances. Tag returns (Mather et 

 al., 1974, Fig. 2), however, show that the fish may 

 move in various directions within this area during the 



summer. The fish leave these waters and move 

 eastward (Fig. 9), sometimes as far as long. 40°W, in 

 September and October. In late fall and winter, they 

 gather off the northern coast of South America, from 

 the Guianas to Colombia. In spring they migrate 

 northward, some passing through the Yucatan 

 Channel and the Straits of Florida, others through the 

 other Passages of the Greater Antilles, and still others 

 moving northward with the Antilles Current east of 

 the West Indies and the Bahamas. Their migration 

 from around the Bahamas back to their summering 



Figure 9.— Tag returns from white marlin released in coastal waters between Cape Hatteras, N.C. and Cape Cod, Mass. 



75 



