A conundrum for management and conservation of one of the Atlantic’s most overfished oceanic species
Here’s an eye-opening tale of how little we really know about the diversity of life in our oceans. And why scientific information is so critical for sustaining our fisheries. A simple case of mistaken fish species identity has really messed up what we thought we knew about the magnificent, but severely overfished white marlin. Furthermore, this unrecognized mistake, which has occurred for decades, is raising serious questions about how we can better manage the white marlin to ensure its future survival.
So what’s this mistake? It turns out that for years, anglers thinking they were catching the prized white marlin may have caught an entirely different species instead! Just three years ago, a team of scientists from the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) at Nova Southeastern University and NOAA Fisheries in Florida made a startling discovery – they confirmed the existence of a previously unrecognized billfish species that looks very similar to a white marlin (see photo). Known as the roundscale spearfish, this new billfish species has now been found throughout the Atlantic Ocean, where its distribution overlaps that of the real white marlin.
Then in December 2009, the same scientific team reported that roundscale spearfish made up a significant portion (about 27%) of the commercial catch that was previously believed to be white marlin.
By now you may be asking, “what’s the fuss?” The problem is that because the existence of the roundscale spearfish was unrecognized until recently, its inadvertent misidentification as white marlin for decades makes past assessments of white marlin population sizes – which are based on fisheries catch data – inaccurate. Basically, what used to be called the “white marlin” was actually a mixture of two species!
What does this mean for the future of the threatened, real white marlin? Given huge concerns about its depleted populations, two petitions (in 2002 and 2007) to list the white marlin under the U.S. Endangered Species Act were considered. If such a listing had gone through, it would likely have put an end to white marlin fishing tournaments, which infuse millions of dollars into the recreational fishing industry as well as local economies. Now the discovery of a look-alike species, realization of it’s long-standing mix-up with white marlin, and the fact that it makes up a substantial portion of past “white marlin” catch, raises considerable confusion regarding the accuracy of our biological knowledge about white marlin and its population sizes. Two issues are clear: First, it’s back to the drawing board to figure out what the white marlin population size really is and how to better manage this species before its populations completely crash. Second, it also means that there is another large billfish species out there (the roundscale spearfish) that we know nothing about and that could very well also be declining rapidly due to overfishing.
I find it remarkable that the existence of a large billfish species in U.S. waters went unnoticed until just three years ago! This “oops” moment points to the urgent need for more scientific research about our planet’s oceans before we lose even more biodiversity.
The good news is that the scientific team from the GHRI and NOAA Fisheries is making fast progress on developing the tools and providing the information needed to help fishery managers better conserve the white marlin and roundscale spearfish. Thank you for your continued support of such important scientific research through the purchase of Guy Harvey sportswear. It makes a statement that you care about the welfare of our fragile oceans!
The action in this amazing video includes not only a giant blue marlin taking the bait right up close in the prop wash, but also International World Record Holder Stewart Campbell being pulled out of the fighting chair, over the transom and into the drink. Stewart and his team consisting of captain Bark Garnsey and wireman Charles Perry are far and away the best blue marlin team in the world. This awesome footage shows that the unexpected can happen even to the best.
The “bait and switch” technique they perfected where the rigged bait and hook are slid back to the fish as the teaser (lure with no hook) is retrieved, makes not only for fishing success, but also for a visual thrill as the marlin takes the bait on the surface. The technique is explained in this video and Stewart’s Atlantic Blue Marlin World Records of 336 lbs. on 6lb test, 562 lbs 8 lb test, 820 lbs on 16 lb, 714 lbs on 20 lb test and 872 lbs on 30 lb test are proof of just how successful this style of fishing can be when you have the right team in place to take advantage of it.
This video is presented by GuyHarveySportswear.com with permission from Stewart Campbell and from Charles Perry of Nautical Dreams.
Fresh from my success in catching a blue marlin during the last week of January, I was anxious to continue my quest to catch at least one of these magnificent creatures each month from my home waters around Grand Cayman. As February arrived, also “fresh” was my memory of last month’s dual hookups on blues at Twelve Mile Bank. It should be no surprise then that I chose the bank as our destination when I fished with my brother-in-law Jonathan Collier, who made a February visit from Australia. The day was relatively uneventful up until we finally hooked up with a blue marlin while trolling back from the bank. During the lengthy battle, the jumping fish got wrapped up in the leader, but we were able to successfully release the 140-pounder at boat-side.
Guy finds the Performance fishing shirt and visor, recent additions to his line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, to be boat-worthy while trolling for marlin
Next to visit, was friend and renowned English wildlife artist Ian Coleman. Ian dives a lot but he had never caught a blue marlin. On February 25, after enjoying a fantastic morning dive at Tarpon Alley, we boarded my 26-foot center console, and once again I headed for the Twelve Mile Bank. Our fishing activities were delayed when we encountered a broken-down boat that we towed back to West Bay, so we didn’t make it out to the bank until about noon. Even at that, we were pleasantly greeted with an abundance of surface activity as frigatebirds worked over schools of feeding skipjack tunas.
It wasn’t long before we trolled up a marlin in our spread, but this first one embarrassed me — inspecting our offerings but then passing up all four lures! Feeling the frustration, I continued to circle the area until the left short rigger went down hard — blue marlin! As Coleman was settling in his harness to prepare for his first-ever battle with a blue, the right rigger got bit — two on! I left that rod in the holder while scrambling to retrieve the left flat when yet another blue marlin pounced on that lure. Wow! This was starting to feel like familiar territory.
The triple hook-up was short-lived, as the first marlin shook off quickly. After another 10 minutes or so, the second fish came off, so Coleman was left to fight the third fish while I steered the boat. It was a tough battle, but Ian got his first blue marlin, a fish I judged to be 170-plus pounds. After a successful release, out went the lures again, and within 15 minutes, another marlin crashed the right long rigger and jumped going away. Coleman was cooked, so I grabbed the rod and worked the fish to the boat, a blue that was smaller then our first at about 125 pounds. That concluded 90 minutes of seemingly non-stop action where we scored five blue marlin bites and released two.
BLUE TANGO: Guy's painting portrays a blue marlin feeding on skipjack tunas, which was the case when he fished Twelve Mile Bank in February
Two days later, on February 27, I snuck in my last blue marlin of the month while fishing with visiting angler Jim Armour. We hooked up just off the area known as Papagallo on North West Point. I was particularly excited because this was the first fish and the first marlin caught from my new 28-foot Scout Makaira II. With a cold front approaching, we decide to squeeze the trip in before what would almost certainly be several days of rough seas. Around Grand Cayman, the trick to fishing during the winter months is to carefully choose good weather days, as it does get very rough on the water with fronts bringing strong northwest then northeast winds.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in March, 2008, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
Recently my daughter Carrie e-mailed me to have me check out this video of a guy jumping out of a helicopter to catch a free swimming marlin. She knew I would get a kick out of seeing it, and she also wanted me to help solve an argument she and her friends where having as to whether it was real, or simply Hollywood at its best. Check out this video, it is truly awesome. Real, however, it is not.
To the friends of my wonderful daughter this appeared real indeed. To someone like myself, or any of my friends who have also spent a lifetime trying to better understand and figure out marlin and other highly migratory fish, this is an impossibility made to look real through some very clever and outstanding camera work. Whether or not it actually happened does not change the fact that this is a way cool ocean video.
The video features adventure fisherman Matt Watson, star of the Discovery Network series Man vs. Fish. Matt is a great entertainer and we mean no disrespect, as he is an avid promoter of responsible catch and release fishing, and helps drive awareness of our beloved sport. He has caught marlin from a surfboard and a jetski, and a shark from a child’s inflatable raft. In this particular episode, they’ve found a marlin near a feeding frenzy of dorado and proceed to hover the helicopter over the fish, allowing Matt to dive head first into the water (with his sunglasses on) tackling the marlin unaware, and then riding it for a few seconds and releasing it.
So what might have actually happened? My speculation is that the marlin was caught in the traditional way, with a fishing rod and reel. After a long, drawn out battle the weary fish was pulled along side the boat, photographed for posterity and carefully released, at which time the film crew was already in the water, ready to shoot the “helicopter jumper” as he jumped the couple of feet from the side of the boat onto the worn-out fish.
But again, I take nothing away from the entertainment value of watching a man jump from a helicopter onto one of the most amazing and sought after game fish in the ocean and wrestle it bare handed. It’s fun to see what you can do in the video edit suite!
Our main goal with this blog will be to bring you directly from Guy Harvey his insights and personal accounts of his many adventures and expeditions in the ocean world. We also will bring you guest blogs from additional experts on ocean issues and we will bring you the most interesting videos that deal with the ocean and the fish who call it home. Real or not, this is one such video. Pass this on to your friends and you are guaranteed to have some interesting conversation as to whether this is real or not.
The month of January marked the beginning of my quest to catch a blue marlin each month from the waters around Grand Cayman, the tiny Caribbean island that has been my home for the last decade. However, this is typically a busy time for me, and it wasn’t until the last week of January, in 2008, that I was finally able to break away for a day of fishing aboard my 26-foot Dusky Makaira. A last minute decision meant that I would be fishing alone, and any hope I might have had of catching a marlin every month of the year was fading. Still, I wasn’t going to let January slip by without at least giving it a try.
Guy Harvey examining trolling lures during his 12 month pursuit
The day’s adventure began as I was trolling three miles west of North West Point, at a spot known as the pinnacle. Surveying the boat’s wake where I had four lines out, I spotted a high dorsal fin streaking in behind the lure I had on the right short rigger. The strike popped the rubber band with a satisfying slap and line started pouring off the reel. I continued to throttle ahead at trolling speed to keep pressure on the marlin while I quickly cleared the three other lines and slipped into my fighting belt and harness. This would be a challenge, as I was on my own — captain, mate and angler all rolled into one.
I braced myself against the console and spun my 26-footer to chase the marlin as it headed downsea, jumping magnificently in a series of head-shaking leaps. Maneuvering the boat by using my left hand to both operate the throttle and steer the wheel, I faced the big fish off the starboard bow and was able to keep up with it until the marlin decided to sound. After a spell, the fish changed tactics and popped to the surface ahead of the boat, where it started wildly jumping again. Then it suddenly turned and charged the boat, which put me in a bad spot. I cranked hard on the reel in an attempt to keep the line tight as I was running around the bow to keep my line clear of the outrigger halyards as the fish sped on by.
Prior to its release, Guy Harvey leaders and photographs his first Blue Marlin of 2008
It was an exciting 20 minutes of fast-paced action before I finally got the blue to the boat. For me, the first order of business was to grab the leader and wrap it around a cleat so I could free up my hands to take a photo of the beautifully lit-up 150-pounder. I then quickly removed the hook from the marlin’s upper jaw, revived the fish for a minute, and after releasing my grip from the bill, watched it swim off like a rocket. That was quite a milestone for me — my first blue marlin caught on the water alone.
After pausing a bit to savor the moment, I throttled the boat forward, methodically reset my lines, and trolled west to Twelve Mile Bank. My day of fishing excitement wasn’t done. Reaching the southwestern corner of the bank, I suddenly found myself hooked up with two jumping blues at one time. I’ve never felt so shorthanded in my life, and proceeded to lose one of the marlin after just five minutes. The other jumped all over the ocean before it finally broke the leader. My body was shaking with exertion and excitement. Fishing alone, I had hooked and fought three of these great fish, managing one — my first solo blue — to the boat for release.
And so, it was this remarkable day of fishing at the end of January that served as a starting point for the pursuit of my lofty goal of catching a blue marlin from Grand Cayman waters during each month of the year. In quite an exhilarating fashion, my quest had begun.
— Guy Harvey
Check this blog next month for my adventures in February, as I continue my quest to catch a blue marlin every month of the year.
Mark O’Brien and I were talking about the skills we looked for when hiring a new deckhand after a young man had walked down the dock and asked us if we knew any captains who might be looking for help.
“If I could only ask one question of a prospective mate on my boat it would be, ‘Can you throw a cast net?’ “ O’Brien said. Any young man who could throw a net probably also knew how to rig baits, tie knots, gaff fish, handle dock lines, check engines etc. On top of all the other necessary skills he would be able to supply bait, especially live bait and live chum. It was unlikely a good net man lacked the other skills and the net skills alone were a major addition if all else were equal.
When I hire a new mate I have several criteria that must be met. First and foremost are social skills. It is not necessary that a candidate meet Emily Post or Martha Stewart standards. An occasional swear word is not grounds for termination. There are, however, a number of excellent fishermen and boat men who I simply can not hire because their language is not acceptable to my clients, or the client’s wives. (I have to struggle with this after a long season in the company of rough, tough fishermen but try not to use foul language around ladies.)
Of equal importance is cleanliness, which is definitely “next to godliness” on boats. Fine finish work and fancy bright work are not essential on a hard working charter boat but a clean looking and smelling boat, especially the head, is paramount. No negotiation! I will clean a head if necessary, but a deckhand who leaves it to me soon leaves!
Intelligence is a must. Formal education can be minimal but innate intelligence is a needed to learn and understand the many tasks a mate has to perform under extreme pressure and ever changing conditions. I can honestly say I do not remember ever having a mate for any length of time who was not above average intelligence and capable of quickly learning complicated tasks.
If a mate is to become a seaman, not just a bait rigger, reading skills are essential along with enough mathematics to learn to navigate and handle basic business and engineering problems.
So far we have described a smart, clean, personable man (or woman) who can get along with a diverse range of clientele but have not considered any fishing experience or physical traits.
The right crew member will help insure that this Blue Marlin will be tagged and released quickly and easily
Fishing skills tend to transfer readily. It really does not matter what kind of fishing a new employee may have done in the past. From snook to trout, and albacore to tarpon most of the rudiments of finding and attracting fish have strong similarities. The prey and predator relationships of the target species and the bait (natural or artificial) used to entice them have enough similarities to enable a good fisherman for any species to rapidly learn how and where to catch another.
Even with no fishing experience, athleticism is more important than sheer brute strength. I would prefer a gymnast to a weight lifter, and quick reflexes are perhaps the greatest gift of all. (I have had clumsy deck hands who overcame their lack of agility through concentration, practice, and dedication but it was never easy for them.)
Many of my best wire men have not been exceptionally strong but have been able to competently and confidently take the leader on marlin and tuna running up to 1,000 pounds. They were able to release the leader cleanly when needed and instantly grab it again with only a small loss of distance if I was able to maneuver the boat toward the fish quickly enough. (A muscle bound lummox breaks leaders and/or gets himself in danger!)
An average sized man who can do a series of chin ups has enough strength to pull up even a large bluefin or black marlin. A small man or average woman would need to build up their upper body strength to become a world class leader person. The ability to react with quick, agile movements is a universal trait in all top deck hands.
Vision is a highly prized attribute for most fisherman but concentration and dedication are even more important. Polarized glasses are a must and corrective lenses can make many persons with poor vision well above average. What is often (incorrectly) taken as visual acuity is more often the ability to comprehend, through experience, the visual stimulus available to anyone bothering to look for it .
A cut off bait, the color of a fish under a bait, or the glint of a tail or fin at a distance, are only seen by the knowledgeable fisherman who has been trained to recognize them. (Doctors instantly recognize things in an X-Ray that we miss not because they can see better, but because they are trained to see and recognize things not recognized by the rest us.)
A good captain can train a novice to become a great mate.
Guy Harvey releasing a Blue Marlin during his year long effort to catch a Marlin-a-Month in the Cayman Islands
I trust you all are having a Happy Holiday with you families and friends. This time of year always makes us both look forward and look back. As I do so now I am reminded of my own family and friends and of the kindness so many people have extended to me. I am also reminded of the ocean, of how we all need to focus on learning more about it and taking care of the fish that call it home. I can’t help but think of the magnificence, adventures, and joy the seas provide.
One such adventure for me took place in January of 2008 while fishing in Grand Cayman. I released my first blue marlin caught alone. What a thrill! It was quite a milestone and set me off on a 12-month journey to see if I could catch a blue marlin every month of the year in my home waters. The Cayman Islands are better known for its diving than its fishing, as sport fishing has yet to reach its full potential. From my personal experiences and from local friends such as full-time fisherman, Charles Ebanks and his father Ferris, I thought this could be accomplished. This effort was not only a personal challenge, it would also help demonstrate the fact that the year round Grand Cayman fishery was stronger than previously known.
With my travel and work schedule I had to try and reach this goal fishing only on weekends when I was at home. Adding to the challenge was the fact that most of the time I was fishing by myself or with only one other person. Even with a passenger, the odds were difficult as two people play the roles of captain, mate and angler while one of the most magnificent fish in the sea does her best to make things as complicated and difficult as possible. What made this marlin-a-month journey even tougher was the fact that I fish from a smaller, outboard-powered boat. Bigger inboard boats create a bigger and better disturbance in the water which can entice billfish to check out the situation, as it can look to them like a feeding event for predators. In fact I have filmed both billfish and tuna rising to check out a boat’s wake even when no lures or live baits were being trolled.
As it turned out, my quest was quite an adventure. My friends at Marlin Magazine wrote about this in a 2009 issue and I thought you would also enjoy my reliving this experience with you each month during 2010 here on this blog. As 2009 comes to a close I wish you all much good health and good fishing in 2010.
We are happy to include Peter B. Wright as a contributing editor to the Guy Harvey Sportswear blog. Peter is one of the world’s best known and respected big game fishing captains and will be writing here on various aspects of catching the largest fish in the ocean.
Peter is an inductee to the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame, has caught more marlin over 1,000 pounds than any captain or angler in history, has won dozens of tournaments, and guided his clients to numerous records. He holds the Bahamas Bluefin Tuna record of 972 pounds and guided angler Stewart Campbell to an amazing single day’s record of 73 Giant Bluefin Tuna tagged and released off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Peter B at Work (Play)
Captain Wright has fished every season in Cairns, Australia since 1968 and has also fished the waters of New Zealand, New Guinea, Indonesia, Thailand, Mauritius, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, The Ivory Coast, Bom Bom Island, Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, Madeira, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, US Gulf and East Coast, Canada’s Maritime Provinces, East and West Coasts of Mexico, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, French Polynesia, Fiji, Hawaii and the Galapagos.
Peter is a highly sought after writer and speaker. He has recently been hired as Editor at Large by World Publications to write a big game fishing column for “Marlin” Magazine as well as hosting television shows and conducting seminars and “Marlin University” programs.
This is the ultimate “fish story” because it involves a monster fish (1,200 plus pound black marlin), a world class angler (Neil Patrick) who graciously gave up personal glory and a potential IGFA world record for the sake of science and conservation, and the unbelievable feat of a man (Guy Harvey) who swam down to attach a second fishing line so the majestic fish could be brought up quickly enough to be tagged and released unharmed.
In late January of 2005, Guy Harvey traveled to the Tropic Star Lodge in Panama to tag black marlin and to film the process for his popular television series “Portraits from the Deep.” Guy’s series is not your typical fishing show, as it combines awesome fishing footage (both from above and beneath the water) with the science and conservation of various fish species in a way that only Dr. Harvey can present it. I felt privileged when asked to join him as “guest angler.”
The tags we were to use — Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags (PSAT), which are the latest in modern technology and cost $4,000 each — served as part of a broader research program in cooperation with the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (PIER) in Oceanside, CA. Designed for use in learning more about the movements of pelagic game fish in the world’s oceans, the tags are attached to fish prior to their release, after which the sophisticated transmitters record data such as depth, water temperature and location. Following a programmed length of time, the tag pops up to the surface, where the information is sent to a satellite and then on to the researchers at PIER.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
