THE CATCH

In addition to 2207 Pacific blue marlin (78% of tournament catch) and 578 yellowfin tuna caught during the tournaments small numbers of other billfish taken in the HIBT include spearfish (long and shortbilled), striped marlin and black marlin (see Table 1). In 1987 there was a bumper year for striped marlin (17) but no yellowfin tuna were landed and 1987 was an average year for marlin (51; average 61 per tournament). This was the height of the el nino effect and the oceanic systems were experiencing oceanographic patterns which disrupted most normal seasonal cycles. Most black marlin were caught in the earlier years of the tournament with 7 out of 10 before 1968) probably reflecting fishing effort nearer to the shore. The spearfish catch is confined to the 70's, does not represent the tournament fishery and are incidental to the targeted species, namely blue marlin and yellowfin tuna.

Table 1

**Catch by Species**
Species	Number	Total weight and Average weitht lbs
Blue Marlin	2207	452,207 212
Black Marlin	11	3,145 285
Striped Marlin	50	3,748 78
Spearfish (long and short billed	25	855 34
Sailfish	4	134 34
Yellowfin Tuna	578	89,872 156

Fish are caught in almost all areas covered by the tournament. Figure 3

Weight Classes of Blue Marlin
1959 - 1994

Marlin weights show a typical distribution about the average. The average was 212.6 lb with a median of 170 lb. Blue marlin weighing more than 368 lbs are in the top 10% by weight. Areas V and possibly S have a higher percentage of marlin greater than 400 lb (14.4% and 11.3% respectively) compared with 6.3% big fish (> 400 lb) over all areas.

Intensive game fishing in a limited area for a week might be thought to affect the fishing success. A quick look at catch by day of the tournament shows that the last day is, on average, as good as the first.

Table 2:

**Number of fish caught catch by day of tournament since 1959**
Species	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Blue Marlin	443	422	473	428	441
Yellowfin Tuna	146	138	102	85	107

Numbers and average weights have not been affected by day of tournament.

TheTournament

THE CATCH

Weight Classes of Blue Marlin 1959 - 1994

Weight Classes of Blue Marlin
1959 - 1994