FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. – Today, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) announced that current stock assessments indicate signs of the start of a recovery for white marlin and blue marlin.  The announcement came after the stocks of both species have steadily declined for over 40 years. The news also comes during the same year that stock assessments for North Atlantic swordfish reflected a recovery.  

 

TBF was quick to highlight that the lessons are multifaceted.  All is not lost for overfished stocks of highly migratory species because even they can respond to restraints in fishing from management actions spurred by improved science and better monitoring. 

 

"This is the first step in rebuilding the blue marlin and white marlin populations," said TBF President Ellen Peel, "but current management measures must remain in place, without an increase in fishing pressure, for rebuilding to continue."  TBF supports research to finds ways to reduce bycatch of billfish.  

 

Twenty years ago, TBF made a commitment to provide direct financial funding to the Enhanced Research Program for Billfish at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).  At the time, the new Billfish Research Program had little or no funding for billfish.  TBF began funding the ICCAT Billfish Research Program at $5,000 a year, which soon increased to $25,000 a year, to provide resources for scientists to gather data for stock assessments.  Before this, some countries could not afford scientists to work with fisheries to gather essential data.   TBF's support of science has greatly improved the scientific community's knowledge of Atlantic marlin, particularly in the area of stock abundance where Dr. C. Phillip Goodyear is recognized as a leader. 

 

Under the guidance of Dr. Eric Prince, who was in charge of ICCAT's Billfish Research Program, the expenditures of TBF's funds led to an invaluable compilation of catch and effort data, which is required for all subsequent stock assessments even to this date.  These data contributed significantly to all the assessments and the resulting TBF-supported recommendations before ICCAT, which curbed mortality of Atlantic blue marlin and white marlin, giving these stocks an opportunity to rebuild.

 

TBF is the world's leading non-profit organization dedicated to advancing research, socio-economic awareness and public policy to conserve billfish worldwide, which helps ensure healthy oceans and strong coastal economies.
 

