1.5 



1.4- 



1.3 



1.2 

 I.I 

 1.0 



0.9- 



0.8- 



0.7- 



0.6- 



0.5- 



0.4 



0.3- 



0.2- 



0.1 







MAZATLAN 

 N fish = 1,597 



ACAPULCO 



N fish =237 



BAJA CALIFORNIA 

 N fish= 7,132 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

 N fish = 644 



1970 

 YEAR 



Mexico's Department of Tourism. Catch and effort 

 data for Mazatlan and Las Palmas Bay (at the tip of 

 Baja California) are shown in Figure 6. Statistical 

 data from the field sampling program show a catch 

 rate for sailfish at Mazatlan of 0.74 fish per day and 

 the postcard angler survey shows about 0.70 fish 

 per day. For striped marlin caught about the tip of 

 Baja California, Mexico, the Las Palmas Bay data 

 shows a catch rate of 0.60 fish per day, the angler 

 postcard survey shows about 0.75 fish per day. 



Comparative catch-per-unit-effort data are not 

 available for southern California waters, but ex- 

 perienced anglers state the figure of 0. 10 billfish per 

 day appears reasonable. 



Marine game fishing for billfishes is an important 

 economic factor in many areas of the world. The 

 monetary expenditure of marine anglers per billfish 

 caught is recognized as substantial. The point 



Figure 5. — Combined species (striped marlin and sailfish) 

 catch per day in the eastern Pacific. 



species of billfish at locations in the eastern Pacific 

 are shown in Figure 5. 



SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION 



Striped marlin catch and effort data for fishing off 

 southern California show a catch rate of 0. 10 fish 

 per day or less, and the catch rate off Acapulco is 

 lower than southern California. The Baja Califor- 

 nia, Mexico, catch rate is highest, ranging between 

 0.66 and 0.82 fish per day with a slight increase 

 shown in the catch rate in 1971 as compared to 

 1969. For the fishing area off Mazatlan the catch 

 rate has declined from 0.65 to 0.37 during the sur- 

 vey years. 



During the 3-yr period catch rates for sailfish 

 ranged about the 0.9 to 1.0 fish-per-day level off 

 Acapulco and the 0.55 to 0.80 fish-per-day level off 

 Mazatlan. The catch rate is much lower off Baja 

 California than off Mazatlan and Acapulco, remain- 

 ing steady at a rate of about 0. 1 fish per day. Black 

 marlin catch rates off Cairns, Australia varied con- 

 siderably from a low of 0.22 to a high in 1971 of 1.48 

 fish per day. 



In 1968 and 1969 the Tiburon Marine Laboratory 

 conducted field sampling for billfishes about the tip 

 of Baja California and at Mazatlan, Mexico. Catch 

 and effort data were collected from available 

 sources such as the sportfishing fleet operators and 



p 



X 



o 



-10- 

 uj - 



cm! 



o 



X 



o 



^10- 



LU - 



STRIPED MARLIN 



- PALMAS BAY 



- MAZATLAN 



F M 



~M J J A S N D~ 



MONTH 



i'i' 



' ' ' 



SAILFISH 



I V 



- PALMAS BAY 



- MAZATLAN 



J f M A Hi J J A S 5 N D~ 

 MONTH 



Figure 6. — Striped marlin (upper panel) and sailfish 

 (lower panel) catch and effort rates off Las Palmas Bay 

 (tip of Baja California) and Mazatlan. Mexico, 1968-1969. 



294 



