"In 1970, the Panama City Laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) began a study on big game fishes (blue marlin, Makaira nigricans; white marlin, Tetrapturus albidus; and sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. This study subsequently became part of the Southeast Fisheries Center's Oceanic Pelaqics Program, the statistics for which are collected by the Fishery Survey Task of the Office of Technical and Information Management Services. Data have been collected through the cooperation of recreational fishermen who wished to learn more about big game fishes. This annual report, the tenth, is furnished to: (1) answer general questions such as: where was the best fishing? what was the best bait? how was the fishing season? etc.; and (2) provide scientific data about the distribution, abundance, and biology of marlins and sailfish in the Gulf of Mexico"--Introduction.

Public Domain