Fishing Australia

Somewhere deep below the water’s surface, marlin are cutting through the currents in what may be the most important race of their lives. Each of these special fish wear small pop-up archival satellite tags (PSATs) that record their location, depth and temperature of the water and, rather than a finish line, there’s a time limit of 180 days. And although they’re not crowded around a prescribed race route, spectators – anglers, scientists, conservationists and fishery managers – are eagerly watching their progress.

The International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) Great Marlin Race is arguably the organization’s most ambitious conservation project to date, and with good reason. “More knowledge is critical to protect these species,” says IGFA President Rob Kramer. “Their numbers are severely threatened, and getting the information necessary for better management is crucial.”

The Great Marlin Race started as a collaboration between Stanford University's Dr. Barbara Block and the Hawaiian International Billfish tournament, but the buzz from what is being learnt has seen the event spread to other great marlin fisheries such as those in Australia. But first a bit of background.

Teams competing have been given the opportunity to sponsor a pop-up satellite archival tag. At a pre-programmed date, the tag detaches from the fish and floats to the surface and begins to transmit the data via the Argos satellite system back to the lab. For the Great Marlin Race, the tags are programmed to pop off after 180 days. At that time, the fish that has travelled the farthest will be declared the winner -- and the team that tagged it will receive much Kudos and highly sought after admission to next year's tournament.

2012 has seen the completion of some of the Great Marlin Race events, while others are here down under are getting close to the seeing a winner. The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament Great Marlin Race was won by “West Marie,” a 170-pound Pacific blue marlin caught by angler Ed Abele and tagged by Captain Marlin Parker on board his boat the Marlin Magic II. The electronic tag, sponsored through a West Marine Blue Future Conservation Grant, was deployed on August 8, 2011 off the Big Island’s Kona Coast. The tag released from the marlin after 121 days, approximately 2,188 nautical miles from the tagging location, in a region north of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Remarkably, this marlin swam south across the equator in less than 4 months.

This was one of two marlin tagged during the 2011 HIBT Great Marlin Race to travel to the Southern Hemisphere. The other, a 330-lb. fish tagged on behalf of Laguna Niguel Billfish Club on August 2, surfaced two days earlier after having travelled 1,752 miles from Kona – about 525 miles west-northwest of the winner, putting it in second place for the race. Of the 10 tags deployed as part of this event, 6 surfaced along a broad swath of ocean southeast of the Hawaiian Islands.

Marlin tagged during the 2009 GMR behaved similarly, with 3 of the 10 tags deployed in that year ultimately showing up near the Marquesas. This is quite different, however, from the results in the 2010 Race – when all but one of the marlin travelled mostly east from Hawaii, and no tags reported from the Southern Hemisphere.

Australia’s Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic

In the first Great Marlin Race event "down under," five tags were deployed on black marlin between October 4-16 2011. So far three of the five tags have reported, with the leading tag popping up on January 10 at a point 2,739 miles east of Lizard Island, near Phoenix Island in Kiribati. This remarkable fish, estimated to weight 900 pounds, was caught by angler Bill Borkan on board the Castille 111. The two remaining tags are programmed to report in early February. You can follow the race at www.greatmarlinrace.org