Coral sea region billfish atlas

Seasonal Catch-Rates

Our summaries of seasonal catch-rates of black, blue and striped marlin and broadbill swordfish within the present 200 nautical mile zones of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are based on Japanese longline data from 1962-1970 (it is very difficult to interpret distributions from more recent data because of a shift in species targeting resulting in deeper, longline fishing techniques in different areas of the region post-1970).

Catches from New Caledonia, just to the south of the study region, are included to illustrate the increasing seasonality in catch-rates southwards (comparable data have not been calculated for the Australian zone). It should be noted that Japanese longliners generally do not fish in water shallower than 200m so the catch data may not reflect the abundance of fish, particularly sailfish and immature black marlin, in less than this depth.

More detailed catch data are presented in monthly maps of catch-rates. These are based on maps of catch rates of the Japanese longline fleet during the 1950s and early 1960s, published by Howard and Ueyanagi (1965). These are believed to be the best available data on the seasonal distributions of marlins in the region. Where no catch-rate is shown on the map, data are unavailable. Monthly maps are not available for sailfish or broadbill swordfish catches.

Monthly catch-rates of black, blue and striped marlin and broadbill swordfish within the 200 nautical mile zones of Papua New Gunea, Soloman Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Based on Japanese longline data from 1962-1970.
Black Marlin
Blue Marlin
Striped Marlin
Broadbill Swordfish

For convenience, we first review these data by species and then give perspectives from individual countries.

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Last updated - 22 August 98

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