3.5 Behavior 



3.51 Migrations and local movements 



Sailfish perform long-range migrations of 

 thousands of miles as well as fairly extensive short- 

 term movements most likely based on local en- 

 vironmental conditions. 



Mather et al. (1974) reported on the results of 18 yr 

 of billfish tagging under the Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution Cooperative Gamefish 

 Tagging Program. Over 12,000 sailfish were tagged 

 and 95 recoveries were recorded (Table 7). The longest 

 distance between release and recovery was from off 

 Cape Hatteras, N. C, to just north of Surinam, a dis- 

 tance of over 1,853 km (Fig. 5). The longest time at 

 large was over 4 yr. Voss (1953) believed that there is a 

 population of sailfish present off Florida all year long, 

 but in summer with the extension of warm water 

 northward there is a movement of sailfish northward 

 along the inside edge of the Gulf Stream. With the 

 arrival of the winter northerlies these fish are driven 

 southward to regroup off the coast of Florida. 



Squire (1974) reported on the results of a billfish 

 tagging program in the eastern Pacific from 1954 

 through 1971. Over 4,700 sailfish were tagged; only 8 

 were recovered. Most recaptures were near the tagging 

 locality and the longest period at large was 15 mo. 



Nakamura et al. (1968) stated that sailfish in the 

 western Pacific migrate from New Guinea, the 

 Solomon Islands, and the Philippines along the 

 Japanese Current to Japan and the Pacific coast of 

 Mexico. In autumn sailfish enter the warm Tsushima 



Current and move into coastal waters where they are 

 sometimes captured in traps. In the East China Sea, 

 Koto et al. (1959) reported that sailfish migrate 

 northward in summer and return southward in 

 autumn where they overwinter in the southernmost 

 area. They also reported that fish under 160 cm long 

 move into the area between May and July while fish 

 over 160 cm move southward out of the area, probably 

 for spawning. 



In the Indian Ocean, Williams (1970) and Merrett 

 (1971) discussed the movements of sailfish off the 

 coast of East Africa. Williams believed that there are 

 two overlapping migratory patterns, one a localized 

 onshore-offshore migration with a superimposed 

 migration from the north and northeast with the in- 

 trusion of the Somali Current. Merrett believed that 

 the onshore migration was a postspawning, feeding 

 migration. 



3.52 Schooling 



Sailfish occasionally form schools or groups of from 

 3 to 25 or 30 individuals. More often, however, concen- 

 trations of sailfish occur in loose aggregations over a 

 broad area. Large numbers of sailfish occur off the 

 southeast coast of Florida during the winter months. 

 Voss (1953) reported that in early morning sailfish off 

 the Florida coast were scattered, but by 0900 schools 

 of up to 30 fish began to form and feed on concen- 

 trations of small forage fish. 



Furukawa (1961) presented a method of calculating 

 the size of an average school or aggregation using the 



Table 7. — Releases for Atlantic sailfish, Istiophorus albicans, in the western North Atlantic by years, and returns from these 



by months at liberty (from Mather et al. 1974). 



Releases 



Year 



Number 



0-0.9 



1-1.9 



Months at liberty 



2-5.9 



6-11.9 



12-17.9 



18-23.9 



24-35.9 



36-47.9 



Totals 



1954 

 1955 

 1956 

 1957 

 1958 

 1959 

 1960 

 1961 

 1962 

 1963 

 1964 

 1965 

 1966 

 1967 

 1968 

 1969 

 1970 

 1971 



Total 



27 



16 







24 



28 



113 



827 



1,157 



1,284 



1,162 



1,080 



1,093 



1,139 



828 



775 



763 



621 



1,068 



12,005 



22 



11 



24 



24 



5 



6 



10 



9 



6 



9 



17 



13 



10 



5 



1 



1 



95 



110 



