8.6 BLUE MARLIN AND WHITE MARLIN One summary for both marlin species, as reported in 2006

BUM/WHM-1. Biology New information on the timing and location of spawning for blue and white marlin, the size at first maturity and the fecundity for different size fish, has been recently made available. SCRS 2007/100

Identification of Round scale spearfish vs White marlin and Atlantic spearfish The significance of this misidentification is still to be evaluated, but more effort is been made to train observers to separate the two species in the catches.

Includes only updates of new information

BUM/WHM 2. Catch In recent years large catches of billfish continue to be reported as unclassified billfish BUM/WHM-Figure 1

BUM/WHM 2. Catch Catches in 2005 and 2006 have not yet been evaluated to the extent done for catches for 1990-2004 during the 2006 marlin assessment 2004 2005 2006 BUM 2117 3451 2060 WHM 573 598 342

Only changes are updates of values for 2005 and 2006 catch from task I

BUM/WHM-3. Fishery indices No updates of abundance indices have been obtained since the 2006 assessment. No changes to the text

BUM/WHM-4. State of the stocks No new information on stock status has been provided since the 2006 assessment. WHM BUM B2004>Bmsy Yes Recent Abundance trend 2001-2004 Slightly upward Possibly stabilizing F2004>Freplacement Possibly F2004>Fmsy

No changes to the text except references to the 2006 assessment

BUM/WHM-5. Recovery/Outlook No new information on the recovery/outlook for marlins has been provided since the 2006 assessment. WHM BUM Longline and purse seine Catchrecent/Catch1996 0.47 0.52 Catch2004 610 2,916 MSY 600-1,300 1,000-2,400

No changes to the text except references to the 2006 assessment

BUM/WHM-6. Effect of current regulations More countries have started reporting live releases in 2006. Additionally, more information has come about, for some fleets, on the potential for using gear modifications to reduce the bycatch and increase the survival of marlins. Photo courtesy of SCRS/2007/113 Such studies have also provided information on the rates of live releases for those fleets. However there is not enough information on the proportion of fish being released alive for all fleets, to evaluate the effectiveness of the ICCAT recommendation relating to the live release of marlins.

Only changes are reference to studies of effects of gear modifications

BUM/WHM-7. Management recommendations … Should the Commission wish to increase the likelihood of success of the current management measures of the marlin rebuilding plan, further reduction in mortality would be needed, for example by: encouraging the use of alternative gear configurations, including certain types of circle hooks, hook/bait combinations etc…in fisheries where its use has been shown to be beneficial,

Only changes are reference to studies of effects of gear modifications

WHM BUM Summary Table No changes except to footnote 3 – 2006 catches