The number of blue marlin that countries can fish from the Atlantic will be lower in 2020. ICCAT members agreed in November to reduce the annual total allowable catch for all Atlantic blue marlin to 1,670 tonnes. That’s 330 tonnes less than in past years.
Co-sponsored by the United States, the measure is expected to end overfishing and allow the stock to rebuild.
U.S. recreational anglers have only been able to keep a combined total of 250 blue marlin, white marlin, and roundscale spearfish each year since 2001. And commercial fishermen are not allowed to fish for any billfish. Thanks to these well-established conservation measures, the new Atlantic-wide catch limit will not require U.S. fishermen to catch fewer marlin.
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I have been out on boats here on The Shore a few times and caught both blue and white marlin. All were always released. On board we discussed that no one eats these billfish. This article leads me to now believe otherwise. Are these fish caught for food ?
I’ve been to some tropical locales where billfish were eaten for subsistence purposes but it hardly seemed substantial enough to cause problems for the fish population.