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Introduction This project follows an initial request from the Solomon Islands to the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for assistance in the development of gamefishing tourism, with emphasis on billfish. An early requirement for such development is determination of the distribution and seasonal occurrence of the major gamefishing species. This is best examined within a regional context. Following the request from the Solomon Islands, ACIAR approached both the Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu governments to determine their interest in such a study and received strong, encouraging responses. ACIAR approached the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), based in Townsville, North Queensland, to carry out the study. AIMS had a strong ongoing billfish research program with access to the kind of data required for the regional study. It had carried out broad reviews of the relevant literature and databases and was undertaking a study of "Trends in marlin abundance and stock composition off Eastern Australia as indexed by catch, effort and tagging data", funded by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). The regional ACIAR project offered the opportunity to synthesise the available data on seasonal distribution and abundance of billfish species around the Coral Sea Rim in a way that would provide the information required by the Coral Sea Rim countries to aid development of gamefisheries together with the necessary background for the AFMA funded study. There are six common species of billfish caught in the Coral Sea region: black, blue and striped marlin; sailfish; broadbill swordfish and short-billed spearfish. The first five of these species are included in the atlas in varying levels of detail, depending on the available information. Spearfish are not included because they occur relatively far offshore and are of much less interest to anglers than the other five species. web@aims.gov.au
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