Anglers protect 'man' in the blue suit

Blue marlin is the penultimate game fish, according to the American Sportfishing Association

By Environmental News Network staff

The penultimate angling experience is the open-ocean pursuit of the 'man' in the blue suit, according to sportfishing purists around the world. Unfortunately, the man, or blue marlin, is hard to find.

Commercial fishing fleets in pursuit of the lucrative market payoff for tuna and swordfish accidentally catch a significant amount of blue and white marlin as well, a bycatch many international fleets do not release.

That is why sportfishing purists let out a cheer when an international fisheries governing body recently passed stiff regulations on the blue and white marlin fishery.

"No one targets (marlin); they are caught as bycatch while fishing for swordfish or bigeye tuna," said Mike Nussman, vice president of the American Sportfishing Association.

Nussman led the U.S. recreational fishing delegation to the November meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Marrakech, Morocco.

There, Nussman and team negotiated an agreement under which international commercial fishing fleets agreed to reduce their catch of blue marlin by 57 percent and white marlin by 67 percent from 1999 levels.

Sport fishing is a multi-million dollar industry

While stiff, the new regulations are not expected to impact negatively the multi-million dollar recreational fishery in the United States. There is currently no commercial blue or white marlin fishery in the States.

"In the early 80s we were killing tons both through commercial and recreational fishing," said Nussman. "Today we land very, very few fish, around 250 to 300 fish per year. Commercially, they are not allowed to be landed."

It has become the ethos among sportfishermen to release the man in the blue suit after the catch is complete. Gone are the days of stuffed carcasses over the living room fireplace.

Despite efforts to recover the marlin fishery in the United States, the latest stock assessment shows that both blue and white marlin are in a bad way, said Nussman.

The hope is that a curb on the international fishery will show results. The new regulations just need to be enforced, Nussman said, something easily done in developed nations but difficult in the developing world.

Japan, Taiwan and Brazil are responsible for most of the bycatch of blue and white marlin.

Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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American Sportfishing Association
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
National Coalition for Marine Conservation
Sea Boots Charters: Blue Marlin Fishing

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