address 2 , brought greetings from Dr. Robert M. 

 White, Administrator of the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration. This was the first scien- 

 tific symposium organized by NMFS since its forma- 

 tion in October 1970. The two primary reasons for 

 holding the Symposium were 1) scientific studies of 

 billfishes on a global scale were very limited, and 2) it 

 would provide a forum for interactions between sport 

 fishermen and scientists with regard to a high-seas 

 fishery. Mr. Roedel noted that notwithstanding the 

 long recognized importance of billfishes in worldwide 

 sports and commercial fisheries, we have very little 

 idea of the size of the resource. Published data on the 

 various species are sparse and scattered, and much in 

 Japanese, and thus the Symposium Proceedings 

 would provide the basic background information es- 

 sential for further detailed studies of the billfishes. 

 Though there are considerable biological, socio- 

 economic, and politico-legal problems to be solved 

 with regard to billfishes, they are included in only one 

 international group concerned with management, i.e., 

 the ICCAT. Mr. Roedel referred to the occurrence of 

 heavy metals in billfishes and the intense public in- 

 terest in this aspect, which had prompted the special 

 symposium evening session on the subject. In conclu- 

 sion, he noted the success of the various cooperative 

 programs between sport fishermen and scientists, es- 

 pecially in tagging, which is important in migration 

 studies of billfishes. 



Further addresses 3 of welcome were made by Mr. 

 Michio Takata, Director, Hawaii State Division of 

 Fish and Game, Mr. J. Thomas Stuart EI represent- 

 ing Dr. John P. Craven, Hawaii State Marine Affairs 

 Coordinator, and Mr. Peter S. Fithian, Chairman, 

 Board of Governors, HIBT. Mr. Shomura then read 

 the text of a cable 4 received from Mr. F. E. Popper, 

 Assistant Director-General, Department of Fisheries, 

 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 

 Nations, Rome, Italy. 



Dr. F. Williams, Symposium Cochairman, in open- 

 ing the scientific part of the Opening Session indicated 

 that the intention of the organizing committee was 

 to commence with comprehensive and up-to-date 

 reviews, on a worldwide basis, of the commercial and 

 sport fishing fisheries activities for billfish. The 

 two scientists chosen for this task, respectively 

 Dr. Shoji Ueyanagi and Dr. Donald P. de Sylva, are 

 experts in these fields and share a common linkage 

 with the late John K. Howard with whom they worked 

 closely. Dr. Williams then introduced the speakers, 

 whose presentations are given in full in Part 2 of the 

 Proceedings. 



In his review of the commercial fisheries for 

 billfishes, Dr. Ueyanagi stated that the present world 

 production of billfishes is approximately 100,000 tons 



2 See Annex 3. 



3 See Annexes 4, 5, and 6. 



'See Annex 7. 



per year, of which more than 90% is taken by the tuna 

 longline fishery. Japan alone produces about 70% of 

 the world's catch of billfishes and is the principal con- 

 sumer nation of these fish. 



Although billfishes account for only about 18% of 

 the longline catches, they are presently of con- 

 siderable importance, especially among the fishery 

 products utilized in Japan. Dr. Ueyanagi discussed 

 the value and utilization of billfishes in Japan and 

 described how billfishes have gained status as a quali- 

 ty fish, commanding prices comparable to the tunas. 

 In addition, he described the expansion of the longline 

 fishery, showing that by 1965 the fishery had covered 

 the entire distributional range of the billfishes. Catch 

 and effort data for billfishes indicate that swordfish is 

 the only species which has shown an increase in land- 

 ings in recent years; blue marlin landings have 

 decreased in the South Pacific, Atlantic, and also, to a 

 slightly lesser degree, in the Indian Ocean, while the 

 catch of the striped marlin has fluctuated greatly 

 from year to year. 



Dr. de Sylva stated that sport fishing for billfishes 

 takes place in nearly all warm waters, primarily in 

 tropical and subtropical seas. In probable descending 

 order of relative abundance, the principal species 

 caught by anglers are: sailfish, white marlin, blue 

 marlin, striped marlin, black marlin, swordfish, and 

 spearfish. He then indicated the areas of the world 

 ocean where the most important sport fisheries are 

 presently located. In some regions maximum angling 

 effort coincides with maximum availability of billfish, 

 while in other regions, especially in the western North 

 Atlantic Ocean, Dr. de Sylva stated that maximum 

 angling pressure is correlated with angling tour- 

 naments which in turn relate to summer vacations 

 and the tendency of most anglers to fish only during 

 good weather. Angling for billfish during the "off 

 season" may well produce good results in areas which 

 are heavily fished only at certain periods. It seems 

 likely that new billfishing regions can be developed, 

 but this requires the assistance of local governments 

 to provide or insure adequate sport fishing vessels, 

 docks, bait, and, especially, qualified captains and 

 crew. 



Dr. de Sylva believes that the relative inefficiency 

 of the gear used by anglers to catch billfish makes it 

 unlikely that angling can seriously deplete the stocks, 

 other factors such as natural environmental fluc- 

 tuations, pollution, or commercial fishing being 

 equal. There is little evidence that commercial 

 fisheries are seriously affecting the sport catches. An 

 exception is in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the 

 mean size of sailfish and striped marlin has decreased; 

 these decreases may be attributed to heavy commer- 

 cial fishing pressure from longline fleets. 



The economic value of the billfish sport fishery is 

 extremely important to local communities which sup- 

 port angling activities. In spite of some conser- 

 vationist feelings promoting release of billfish which 

 are not tagged, Dr. de Sylva noted that catches could 



