What Comes Around Goes Around
Capture of tagged Blue Marlin remains fascinating to anglers.

Story by Mike House

Captain Peter Hoogs of the Kona sportfishing vessel Pamela has released many fish in his stellar career, much to the surprise of some Hawaii fishery watchers.   In fact, in 1996, Hoogs, after releasing some fifty Marlin, was named the Pacific Ocean Research Foundation (PORF) top release captain.  In 2000, one of the fish he released in July of that year, tag number H-30522, was caught off the Marshall islands.  Glyn Ferrell of Benton, Missouri, was Hoogs’ charter that day in 1996.

Details of the re-capture of Ferrell’s and Hoogs’ fish are incomplete as of August 2000, but David Holts, a fishery biologist with NOAA that sent Hoogs a letter advising of the recapture, said the second capture date was at least three years after the release, and the fish was caught a net distance of 1,769 miles from the point where it was first tagged.  Data on the growth and actual date of catch were not included, but it certainly proves that at least this one fish carried on its life no worse for the wear.

Interestingly, in that same month in 1996, Hoogs actually caught a fish that had been previously tagged three years earlier by another Kona skipper, Gene Vanderhoek of the Sea Genie II.  According to Hoogs, he caught the fish in almost the same place it was caught and released three years previous.

So, with one Hoogs fish ending up in the Marshall Islands three years later and one fish recaptured in Hawaii after three years, are there any conclusions that can be drawn?  Unfortunately, only that released fish do in fact survive.  The trouble with the tag data currently available is that all that can be gleaned from the first release is time, date, location, and an estimate on size and weight, and then on the recapture, information concerning the location time and date.  If the fish is weighed, of course, growth projections can be estimated, but if the first release had poor data or estimates on the size, those projections on growth can be significantly wrong.   

In the case of these two fish, the events surrounding the three years of travel in between captures remains the mystery.  Did these fish follow the same patterns, follow similar migration paths between two points, or does this suggest there might be a resident and a transient population of Marlin similar to that of the Orca killer whales in the Pacific Northwest?  Nobody knows for sure, but some new studies are coming into place that might begin to answer some of these questions. 

New, archival pop-up tags might be the link to figure out some of these questions.  Marlin are an ancient ocean roaming species of fish, some say not far removed from dinosaurs.  On July 19, 2000, angler Rob Wilson of Houston, Texas inserted a "pop up archival tag" - or PAT – off the Kona Coast.  The PAT was purchased by the Hawaii Conservation Association (HCA) as one of six used to kick off their "Lure an Angler to Research" program for the summer of 2000.  The program is designed to increase public awareness of high tech wildlife research and perhaps answer many of the questions concerning Marlin migration and habits.

Wilson is part of one the families responsible for founding the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), and is no stranger to public support of fishery initiatives. The HCA was founded along the general principals of CCA, but with complete Hawaiian autonomy.

HCA is working in association with Dr. Richard Brill of National Marine Fisheries Service and biologist Andrew West, completing his PhD in marine science while teaching at the University of the Nations in Kona.

At large for exactly two months, Wilson’s fish carried its cargo everywhere and ended up popping off approximately fifty miles off the coast of Niihau, a small island off the Coast of Kauai.  The route it took to get there will be decoded from the data collected by scientists.  For now, just like in the use of the original forms of tags, only point A (release) and point B (pop up) are known.  The PAT will hopefully tell the rest of the story. 

Notice the tag on this marlin just behind the dorsal fin

As of September 27, 2000, we know the fish survived its release, and that it traveled at least 300 miles in 60 days, the day it was scheduled to release from the fish.  But who knows where it went during that time frame.  Fishermen and scientists both know that Marlin can sprint at speeds close to 30 miles per hour, and are commonly seen cruising along at 3 - 5 miles per hour when they are not hunting.

With this in mind, it will be quite interesting to find out exactly what the Marlin did during the couple of months while the cargo was carried aboard.   Did it go elsewhere and then come back to the Hawaiian Islands, or did the fish decide to stay right in Hawaii?  This is the beauty of the PAT system, as it will probably answer most of these questions.  Of course, new questions will arise as answers are obtained, but the future of Marlin research is clearly becoming less of a mystery than ever before. 

Thanks to skippers like Pete Hoogs, researchers like Richard Brill, and concerned anglers like Rob Wilson, the mysteries of the great Marlin may soon be solved.  To follow the tracks of the marlin tagged by HCA's "Lure an Angler to Research" program you can click on this link:  http://konatournaments.com/hawaiica

Sportfish Hawaii supports the efforts of the HCA and other tagging programs that teach us more about the oceans and its fish.  We also thank Captain Peter Hoogs and Jody Bright of the HCA for information used in this story.