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A mail survey of 1,984 billfish
anglers was completed in 1989-1990. Because no listing
of billfish anglers is available for sampling purposes,
we focused all research efforts on a known population of
tournament billfish anglers. From among 359 tournaments
held in the U.S. western Atlantic Ocean we sampled 27
tournaments. Tournament officials from these events were
contacted to solicit their cooperation and access to the
names and addresses of participants. A total of 1,171
anglers responded to the mail survey for a response rate
of 59%. When non-deliverables were excluded, the
effective response rate was 62%. This research was
initiated in response to social and economic research
needs identified in the billfish FMP and in support of
billfish conservation measures at home and abroad.
Major research findings are listed
under five headings:
Characteristics of Billfish
Tournament Anglers
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Almost all
billfish anglers were male. The mean age level
was 46. Most indicated they were employed in
white collar positions with well above average
education levels. |
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The median income
category of billfish tournament anglers was
$110,000 to $119,000. Almost 50% reported
earning more than $130,000. |
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Over one-half of
the billfish tournament anglers reported fishing
21 or more years. A majority of anglers reported
fishing for billfish 11 or more years. |
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Billfish
tournament anglers spent an average of 44 days
fishing in the previous 12 months, considerably
higher than for salt water anglers in general. |
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Billfish
tournament anglers preferred blue marlin, white
marlin and sailfish, respectively. |
Angler Opinions on Fisheries Management Options
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Billfish
tournament anglers were opposed to smaller
minimum sizes for billfish, no minimum sizes for
fish to be mounted by taxidermists, banning
double hooks, allowing handlining or harpooning
for recreational purposes, banning "live
baiting', a one billfish per boat per day bag
limit and area closures. |
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They supported
larger minimum sizes for billfish, larger
minimums for tournaments, mandatory "no kill"
tournaments, a one billfish per angler per day
bag limit, a billfish stamp and a zero bag
limit. |
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Anglers were
evenly divided on banning stainless steel hooks
and seasonal closures for the fishery. |
Billfish Fishing Trips
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Billfish
tournament anglers reported an average of 13
billfish trips per year with each trip lasting
an average of 2. 7 days. |
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On the average,
each angler kept one billfish per year. However
29% of the billfish tournament angler population
accounted for 100% of the billfish mortality. |
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Mid-Atlantic
billfish tournament anglers were the most
successful in catching billfish and released the
most billfish. Gulf of Mexico anglers made the
fewest trips per year and were the least
successful. Caribbean anglers made the most
billfish trips per year and killed the most
billfish. |
Economic Value of the Recreational Billfish Fishery
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On their last
billfish trips (2.59 days), anglers spent an
average of $2,147 including tournament fees. |
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Billfish
tournament anglers were willing to pay an
additional average price of over $200 (consumer
surplus) above and beyond their total trip
expenditures for the opportunity to catch
billfish and would probably be willing to pay
more if billfish abundance were to increase. |
Population Projections of Harvest and Expenditures
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An estimated
7,195 billfish tournament anglers in the study
region made a total of 102,895 + 6,512 billfish
fishing trips. Forty percent of these trips were
successful in that at least one billfish was
caught. This group boated 50,373 billfish and
killed 5,541 + 715 billfish. The total catch
(boated) was 38% sailfish, 33% blue marlin, 29~o
white marlin and <1% spearfish. |
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Billfish
tournament anglers in the study region spent
$164,735,000 in pursuit of billfish excluding
tournament fees. This amounts to $3,310 per
billfish caught or $29,730 per billfish killed.
Tournaments generated a total expenditure of
$58,964,000 of which $14,690,000 were tournament
fees. This amounts to $43,565 for every
tournament-killed billfish. |
Acknowledgements
The completion of this project
was made possible by the efforts of many individuals who
deserve special mention. At Texas A&M University, Brian
Fiske performed many valuable functions including sample
selection, survey administration, coding, data entry and
assisted with report preparation. Jodie Bell, Kristen
Dennard and Leslie Dennard also assisted with coding and
data entry. We appreciate their support and careful
work. Dr. Tony Fedler, formerly with the University of
Maryland and now affiliated with the Sport Fishing
Institute in Washington, D.C., provided his services as
a consultant. We are appreciative of the opportunity to
complete this research project for the Billfish
Foundation. The support, assistance and encouragement by
Monty Lopez and John Spence is acknowledged. It would
have been impossible for us to complete this study
without the cooperation of billfish tournament
officials. We thank each tournament director who
provided names of billfish anglers for survey purposes.
We would also like to thank the billfish anglers who
took the time to respond to our survey.
RBD
MRF |
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