Table 1. — Releases (after slash) and returns (before slash) for sailfish, by years, areas, and programs. 



Returns are listed by year and area of release. 





Hatteras- 



NE 



SE 





Gulf of Mexico 



Haiu& 



Caribbean 



Caribbean 





Area 



Delaware 



Florida 



Florida 



Bahamas Fla. & La 



Te 



vas 



Virgin Is. 



SE 



NW 





Program 



WHOI 



WHOI 



WHOI 



RSMAS 



WHOI 



WHOI 



WHOI 



PARR 



WHOI 



WHOI 



WHOI 



Totals 



Year 



























1950 









1/78 

















1/78 



1951 









1/112 

















1/112 



1952 









2/102 

















2/102 



1953 









1/140 

















1/140 



1954 







0/27 



0/299 









0/76 









0/402 



1955 







1/15 



0/201 





0/1 





1/44 









2/261 



1956 









1/167 









0/34 









1/201 



1957 







0/17 



2/142 







0/7 



0/13 









2/179 



1958 







2/7 



0/17 







0/21 



0/36 









2/81 



1959 







0/72 







0/1 



0/33 



1/49 





0/7 





1/162 



1960 



0/2 





5/746 





0/4 



0/3 



0/22 



0/196 



0/5 



0/44 



0/1 



5/1,023 



1961 



0/1 



0/1 



5/949 





0/9 



0/5 



0/182 



1/64 



1/3 



0/7 





7/1.221 



1962 



0/2 



0/4 



10/1,141 





0/32 



0/3 



0/93 



0/3 



0/9 







10/1,287 



1963 



0/4 





9/1,000 





0/45 



0/1 



0/102 









0/10 



9/1,162 



1964 



0/2 





6/925 





0/73 



0/9 



0/60 





0/5 





0/6 



6/1,080 



1965 



0/1 



0/3 



7/928 





1/34 





0/95 





1/17 



0/15 





9/1,093 



1966 



0/2 



0/1 



9/565 





0/57 



0/4 



0/152 





1/150 



7/186 



0/22 



17/1.139 



1967 



0/1 



1/2 



6/385 





1/34 



2/52 



0/188 





3/67 



0/53 



0/46 



13/828 



1968 







6/420 





2/43 



1/220 



1/54 





0/20 



0/3 



0/15 



10/775 



1969 



1/15 





3/339 





0/71 



1/24 



0/154 





0/53 



0/60 



0/47 



5/763 



1970 



0/28 



0/2 



1/254 





0/38 



0/71 



0/73 





0/47 



0/32 



0/76 



1/621 



1971 



0/22 



0/2 



1/449 





0/39 



0/35 



0/76 





0/75 



0/31 



1/351 



2/1.080 



1972 2 







0/212 





0/29 





0/2 





1/95 



0/1 



0/169 



1/508 



Unknown 









1/1 

















1/1 



Totals 



1/80 



1/15 



71/8,451 



9/1,259 



4/508 



4/429 



1/1,314 



3/515 



7/546 



7/439 



1/743 



109/14,299 



1 Haiti- 1960- 1962, V 



irgin Islands 1964-1967. 



















2 Through May. 

























The releases in this area were mainly (64.7%) in 

 the period November-February, with a secondary 

 period (14.1%) in April-May. The returns within the 

 release area followed a similar pattern, with major- 

 ity (44) in the period November-February, but 

 March was the most productive among the other 

 months, with seven returns (Appendix Tables 2-4). 

 The recapture off North Carolina was in July; the 

 one off the Bahamas in December; the two off 

 Havana in May and August; and the three in the Gulf 

 of Mexico also in May (one) and August (two) (Ap- 

 pendix Table 1). 



Five hundred and eight sailfish were tagged off 

 the northwestern Bahamas, and four of these tags 

 have been returned (Table 1 , Fig. 2, Appendix Table 

 5). One of these was recaptured off the Florida 

 Keys, one off Cabo Cruz on the southeastern coast 

 of Cuba, two off Havana. Unfortunately there is 

 some doubt about the identity of the last two fish, 

 since the fisherman who recaptured them reported 



that they were sailfish, but the taggers had listed 

 them as white marlin. 



The releases off the northwestern Bahamas are 

 concentrated in April-July (80%) with a good 

 number (8%) in August (Table 2). The two recap- 

 tures off Havana were in May and July, the one off 

 southeastern Cuba in March, and the one in the 

 Florida Keys in May (Appendix Table 5). 



Fishermen have released 2,358 sailfish in the 

 Gulf of Mexico (1,829 near Port Aransas, Texas, 

 and 429 in the north central and northeastern Gulf) 

 and eight returns have resulted, including four from 

 each area (Table 1, Fig. 2, Appendix Table 6). Two 

 of the recaptures (one in each area) were local. The 

 other three returns from sailfish tagged off Port 

 Aransas showed migrations to the Florida Keys, 

 the vicinity of Palm Beach. Florida, and off the 

 north central coast of Cuba. The remaining three 

 sailfish tagged in the northeastern Gulf were recap- 

 tured near Havana, off the northeast coast of Cuba, 



196 



