Table 1. — Black martin lagging off north Queensland, 

 Auslralia, by year lagged and lag type, 1968-78. 



Figure 2.- 



-Four types of dart tags used in the Pacific Ocean by the Cooperative 

 Marine Game Fish Tagging Program. 



location of tagging, species, estimate of fish's weight, tagger's 

 name and address and returns it to the organization issuing the 

 tag. Anglers who indicated a willingness to tag and release billfish 

 were issued tagging equipment which consisted of a stainless steel 

 applicator tip which must be mounted in a tagging pole, tags, in- 

 structions, and tagging flags for recognition of a billfish tagged 

 and released. There was no charge for the tagging equipment. 



When billfish are recovered, the recoverer receives a monetary 

 reward upon sending in information on the tag number, species, 

 date, and location of recovery. The recoverer sometimes adds in- 

 formation on water temperature at the time of recapture, length 

 and weight measurements, sex, and gonad weight data. 



RELEASE DATA 



Cooperating marine game fish anglers and charter boat cap- 

 tains have tagged and released 2,885 black marlin in the Pacific 

 Ocean using NMFS and WHOI tags since 1961. Of this number, 

 2,576 black marlin (89%) were tagged along the Great Barrier 

 Reef off the north Queensland coast of Australia. The coordina- 

 tion of tagging for black marlin in this area was by the Cairns 

 Game Fish Club, Cairns, Australia. Other locations in the Pacific 

 where black marlin were reported to have been tagged were off 

 the coasts of Panama and Hawaii, and near the southern tip of 

 Baja California, Mexico. , , 



The numbers of black marlin tagged in the north Queensland 

 area are listed in Table 1 by year and tag type. Of the 2,576 black 

 marlin tagged, 2,276 (88.0%) were tagged with "H" type tags and 





Number tagged 



Tag types 





Year 



A H 



FM67 



B 



1968 



26 





26 





1969 



51 





51 





1970 



110 





110 





1971 



184 



127 



57 





1972 



288 



287 



1 





1973 



438 



378 



60 





1974 



337 



1 335 





1 



1975 



411 



1 409 





1 



1976 



501 



501 







1977 



170 



170 







1978 



60 



60 







Total 



2,576 



2 2,267 



305 



2 



305 (11.8%) with FM67 type tags. The remainder were tagged 

 with "A" or "B" type tags. 



Figure 3 shows the distribution of tagging effort by year and 

 average estimated weights as given by the angler, in relation to 

 tagging locations along the outer islands and reefs of the Great 

 Barrier Reef. September, October, and November are the major 

 months for tagging black marlin, with percentages of 21.6, 49.0, 

 and 24.1, respectively. The geographical area where the most 

 black marlin were tagged was along the Great Barrier Reef from 

 lat. 16°00' to 16°30'S. This area includes the reefs known as 

 Hope, Nicholas, Onyx, Spur, Opal, St. Crispin, Linden Bank, 

 and Agincourt Reefs No. 1 and 2. Data given in Figure 3 indicate 

 that from 1972 to 1974 tagging effort shifted northward off the 

 Queensland area. This was probably due to the development near 

 the outer reefs of floating or island facilities for the angler, allow- 

 ing him easier access to waters distant from Cairns, Queensland. 



RECOVERIES 



Of the 59 recaptures reported for black marlin tagged during 

 the years 1968-78, 52 (88%) were recaptured by Japanese and 

 Korean commercial longline fishing vessels, 4 (7%) by marine 

 anglers, and 2 (3%) by Australian commercial fishermen (trawlers 

 or netters); 1 (2%) was a beached marlin. Table 2 gives black 

 marlin release, recapture, and biological data for those tagged 

 with NMFS or WHOI tags. Data from four New South Wales 

 State recoveries used elsewhere in the analysis are not listed in 

 Table 2. Of the 59 returns, one return could not be matched to a 

 tag report card. 



RECOVERY RATES 



A total of 2,576 black marlin was tagged off Queensland: 2,267 

 with the "H" type tags, 305 with the FM67, 2 with the "A" type, 

 and 2 with the "B" type. Of these, 1.3% of the FM67 tags and 

 2.4% of the "H" tags were recovered, with an overall recovery 

 rate of 2.3%. A breakdown of recovery rates for this area by year 

 and by type of tag is given in Table 3. 



Of the total of 189 black marlin reported tagged in other areas 

 of the Pacific, 70 were tagged with FM67 type tags and 1 19 with 

 "H" type tags. None has been reported recovered. 



