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Seasonal Catch-Rates SAILFISH Detailed longline catch data are not available for comparison of seasonality or absolute catch-rates with the marlin species. The limited data that are available, including the distribution and abundance of larval billfish, indicates that sailfish are extremely abundant around both the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. On average, seven sailfish are caught for each blue marlin and three to four for each black marlin, by the New Britain (Rabaul) Gamefishing Club. Eight years of catch records from the Lae Gamefishing Club show 42 sailfish caught compared to 5 black marlin and 10 blue marlin. Only 2.5 sailfish are caught for each black marlin in the Port Moresby catch records, but it is not clear whether this reflects relatively fewer sailfish or more black marlin in this area than further north. Better effort data will be required to answer such questions. Seasonality of sailfish catch-rates is difficult to determine because of the lack of effort data in the gamefishing records. Unlike the data for black and blue marlin, there is no evidence of any seasonal variation in the weight of sailfish out of Rabaul or Port Moresby. Sailfish caught by the New Britain Gamefishing Club range from 10kg to 45kg in weight, with seventy-five percent of all fish between 20kg and 30kg (277 fish weighed). Most of these fish are under the size at which maturity is reached elsewhere in the Pacific. By contrast, sailfish caught by the Port Moresby Gamefishing Club are more typical of those caught off northeast Australia, ranging in size from 17kg to 73kg, with seventy-five percent of fish between 25kg and 45kg (102 fish weighed). The relatively small size of sailfish around Rabaul is surprising, given the high concentration of sailfish larvae in the area. It is not yet clear whether these fish are spawning at a smaller size than sailfish elsewhere, or whether larger fish occur in the area but have not been fished.
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