and west of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. 



The releases off Texas were virtually all in sum- 

 mer, with the majority in July (34%) and August 

 (33%). Those off the Mississippi delta and western 

 Florida were somewhat later, with the maximum in 

 September (49%) and October (34%), and a good 

 number in August (10%) (Table 2). The local re- 

 coveries corresponded with the peak of tagging, oc- 

 curring in August off Port Aransas and in Sep- 

 tember off Pensacola, Florida. The distant re- 

 coveries were scattered in time and location — off 

 Havana in October, near Palm Beach in December, 

 off northeastern Cuba and off Grenada in January, 

 off the Florida Keys in March, and off north central 

 Cuba in May (Appendix Table 6). 



Five hundred and twenty-nine sailfish have been 

 tagged off the Virgin Islands, mostly in the period 

 November-March, and six of these tags have been 

 returned (Tables 1 and 2, Appendix Table 7). Two 

 of the returns were local, and in the peak tagging 

 season (December and February). The other recap- 

 tures were widely scattered geographically (Fig. 2), 

 but all occurred between mid-March and the end 

 of June. One was in the Mona Passage (off the 

 Dominican Republic) in March, one off Fort 

 Lauderdale. Florida, in May, and the other two 



Table 2. — Monthly distribution of releases of sailfish in the 

 western North Atlantic Ocean, by tagging areas. Releases 

 are tabulated in percent of the total number (N) for each 

 area. — indicates less than 0.5%. 



Area 



Percent of Releases, by Months 

 JaFeMa ApMyJu Jl AuSeOcNoDe N 



Southeastern 



Florida 24 10 3 8 6 4 3 3 3 5 10 21 9,455 



Northwestern 



Bahamas — 2 4 22 26 18 14 8 2 3 I — 479 



Northwestern 



Gulf of Mexico — 6 34 33 25 2 1,827 



North Central 



& Northeastern 



Gulf of Mexico 2 5 10 49 34 — 429 



Virgin Islands 31 14 14 1 16 19 13 433 



Southeastern 



Caribbean 



8 



— 



1 5 9 27 18 21 10 — 



438 



Caribbean 





22 



46 16 10 3 2 1 



574 



Haiti 



6 



5 



6 17 44 22 



18 



Northeastern 











Florida 











& Georgia 







27 60 13 



15 



Cape Hatteras 











— Delaware 







1 7 41 33 16 2 



80 



Table 3. — Releases for sailfish in the western North Atlan- 

 tic Ocean by years, and returns from these by months at 

 liberty. 



Releases 



Months at Liberty 



Year 



0- 1- 2- 6- 12- 18- 24- 36- 48- 

 Number .9 1.9 5.9 11.9 17.9 23.9 35.9 47.9 59.9 Total 



1950 



78 









1 



1951 



112 





I 







1952 



102 





2 







1953 



140 











1954 



402 











1955 



261 







1 





1956 



201 











1957 



179 



1 







1 



1958 



81 







1 



1 



1959 



162 











1960 1 



023 





2 1 



1 



1 



1961 1 



221 



1 



2 



2 



2 



1962 1 



287 



2 



1 1 



5 



1 



1963 1 



162 



3 



1 4 



1 





1964 1 



080 



2 



2 1 



1 





1965 1 



093 



2 



1 2 



3 



1 



1966 1 



139 



5 



4 



4 





1967 



828 



2 



2 7 



1 



1 



1968 



775 



3 



1 1 



3 



1 



1969 



763 



1 



1 2 





1 



1970 



621 



1 









1971 1.080 







2 





1972 



508 





1 







Unknowr 



1 











All 













Years 14.299 



23 



12 28 



25 



11 



1 



1 



2 

 1 



2 



1 



2 



2 



1 



5 



7 



10 



9 



6 



9 



17 



13 



10 



5 



1 



2 

 1 

 1 



109 



were in June — one off the northeastern tip of the 

 Yucatan Peninsula, and the other off Charleston, 

 South Carolina. 



Fishermen have released 438 sailfish in the 

 southeastern Caribbean, nearly all of them in the 

 vicinity of La Guaira, Venezuela (Fig. 2), and 

 seven of these tags have been returned (Table 1, 

 Appendix Table 8). Most of the tagging (66%) was 

 in the period July-October, with 8 to 10% in each of 

 the months of July, November, and February 

 (Table 2). Six of the recaptured fish had been tagged 

 near La Guaira; the other was released about 60 

 miles west of there. All were recaptured in the vi- 

 cinity of La Guaira. The recaptures were spread 

 over much of the year, with one in each of the 

 months of January, May, June, July, and August, 

 and two in September. 



Five hundred and seventy-four sailfish have been 

 tagged in the northwestern Caribbean, nearly all of 

 them along the Yucatan coast opposite Cozumel 



197 



