Table 11. — Relative abundance of billfishes by water color for South Pass, northwest Florida, and the two areas 

 combined, 1971. (BM = blue marlin, WM = white marlin, SF=sailfish). 



Water color 





Blue Water 





Blue-Green 



Water 





Green Water 





Species 



BM 



WM 



SF 



BM 



WM 



SF 



BM 



WM 



SF 



South Pass 





















No. offish raised 



72 



62 



10 



80 



69 



26 



36 



23 



13 



No. of hours trolled 



877.1 



877.1 



877.1 



1,185.4 



1,185.4 



1,185.4 



653.7 



653.7 



653.7 



Fish raised per hour 



0.082 



0.071 



0.011 



0.067 



0.058 



0.022 



0.055 



0.035 



0.020 



Hrs. to raise 1 fish 



12.2 



14.1 



90.1 



14.9 



17.2 



45.5 



18.2 



28.6 



50.0 



Northwest Florida 





















No. of fish raised 



230 



489 



593 



21 



58 



118 



7 



6 



14 



No. of hours trolled 



4,554.9 



4,554.9 



4,554.9 



886.5 



886.5 



886.5 



312.5 



312.5 



312.5 



Fish raised per hour 



0.050 



0.107 



0.130 



0.024 



0.065 



0.133 



0.022 



0.019 



0.045 



Hrs. to raise 1 fish 



20.0 



9.3 



7.7 



41.7 



15.4 



7.5 



45.5 



52.6 



22.2 



Both areas 





















No. of fish raised 



302 



551 



603 



101 



127 



144 



43 



29 



27 



No. of hours trolled 



5.432.0 



5,432.0 



5,432.0 



2,071.9 



2,071.9 



2,071.9 



966.2 



966.2 



966.2 



Fish raised per hour 



0.056 



0.101 



0.111 



0.049 



0.061 



0.070 



0.045 



0.030 



0.028 



Hrs. to raise 1 fish 



17.9 



9.9 



9.0 



20.4 



16.4 



14.3 



22.2 



33.3 



35.7 



could not be determined from the logs. Therefore, 

 since we could not determine the number of fish 

 raised per hour of trolling, we decided to use the 

 percentage of the total number of fish raised as a 

 measure of relative abundance. The data are pre- 

 sented in Table 12. 



As the percentages show, the most productive 

 surface condition off South Pass was along lines or 

 rips. Nearly half of each species was raised along 

 lines or rips. Off northwest Florida, open water was 

 the most productive surface condition, the percent- 



ages ranging from 52% to 67%. Open water was 

 second best off South Pass, while scattered grass 

 was second best off northwest Florida. In the scat- 

 tered grass, grass patches, and others categories, 

 the percentages for blue marlin and white marlin 

 were about equal. Sailfish were twice as abundant 

 along scattered grass off northwest Florida area 

 than off South Pass. 



When the data for the two areas were combined, 

 open water appeared as the best condition, scat- 

 tered grass second, and lines or rips third. 



Table 12. — Surface conditions and billfishing off South Pass, northwest Florida, and the two areas combined, 1971. 



(BM=blue marlin. WM=white marlin, SF = sailfish). 



Surface condition 



Open Water Lines or Rips Scattered Grass Grass Patches 



Others 



Total No. 

 Raised 



Species 



BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF BM WM SF 



South Pass 

 No. offish raised 

 Percent of total 

 no. raised 



51 45 14 87 67 23 36 30 10 6 6 1 9 2 189 150 48 

 27% 30% 29% 46% 45% 48% 19% 20% 21% 3% 4% 2% 5% 1% — — — — 



17 



15 



266 650 782 



Northwest Florida 



No. of fish raised 168 436 406 20 68 31 65 125 322 7 



Percent of total 



no. raised 63% 67% 52% 8% 11% 4% 24% 19% 41% 3% 1% 2% 2% 2% 1% — 



Both areas 



No. of fish raised 219 481 420 107 135 54 101 155 332 13 12 18 15 17 6 455 800 830 

 Percent of total 



no. raised 48% 60% 51% 24% 17% 6% 22% 19% 40% 3% 2% 2% 3% 2% 1% — — — 



285 



