Such a regulation, in fact, has potential to actually increase the total weight of fish landed becasue the larger fish are landed and the average weight of landed fish is, as a direct result of the regulations higher. Farber and Venizelos estimate that had the 99-inch minimum size been in effect for the duration of 1999, the average size of blue marlin landed would have increased by almost 100 pounds. Recreational billfish landings should be analyzed, in the context of measures to reduce fishing mortality, by the number of fish taken, not total weight. If the U.S. is concerned with adhering to the letter of this recommendation, further action should be taken to reduce the largest contribution to marlin mortality - pelagic longline bycatch. Although NMFS has begun implementation of longline time-area closures, the reduction in marlin bycatch resulting from these measures will likely be minimal.
Recreational landings have very little impact on overall mortality compared to longline bycatch.
Twice as much fishing effort resulted in half as many fish caught, and this was not due to minimum size regulations. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.