QUALITY VERSUS QUANTITY
It’s one of those age-old questions in marlin fishing: Would you rather catch a bunch, or do you want a shot at a really big one?
In most of the world’s big-fish destinations, you’re basically fishing for that one bite. And while there’s definitely something to be said for putting up big numbers in places like the Dominican Republic and Central America, if you’re looking for that extra-large marlin of a lifetime, you’re going to have to put in some time and effort to make it happen. Paying your big-fish dues, so to speak.
In researching the “Chasing Giants” feature in this issue, it was interesting to note that many of those hotspots have consistently produced good fishing for years, and even decades. Places such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Challenger and Argus banks off Bermuda, Cape Verde, and Kona, Hawaii, seem to have good numbers of big marlin, season after season. As the world slowly reopens for international travel, any of these belong on your must-see list. Closer to home, we are fortunate to have several respectable fisheries right here in the US, namely the Gulf of Mexico, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and the canyons of the Northeast. Any one of these is capable of producing some damn big blues.
Maintaining access to those fisheries is going to be one of the key points to watch as we move forward though. By now you may have heard about the 30 by 30 initiative, which is an ambitious international plan to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. In the US, there is currently a bill in the Senate, the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature, with the goal of protecting 30 percent of our terrestrial and aquatic resources in the same time frame. Leading environmental scientists see this as a minimum step in mitigating climate change as a carbon-sequestration measure, since healthy forests, lakes, rivers and oceans act as carbon sinks, removing the element from our atmosphere. The potential danger, though, is in the wanton establishment of Marine Protected Areas, and the subsequent levels of take or no take that are allowed within them. When used sensibly, MPAs and their restrictions—such as banning commercial longlining in known billfish-spawning areas—can produce excellent results. Just look at the rebound of the swordfish fishery in the eastern United States as one of those success stories. But it’s all too easy to say that MPAs are a hands-off sanctuary where even recreational catch-and-release surface trolling is not allowed.
Internationally, proponents of this plan are pushing for a new multination treaty to protect marine biodiversity and create fully protected marine parks in international waters, which is also troubling. The American Sportfishing Association, among other groups, has expressed caution over the need to ensure that 30 by 30 policies do not result in arbitrary restrictions on public access. Beyond each nation’s exclusive economic zone, the oceans of the world should belong to no one, and to everyone. Negotiating the establishment of MPAs and the ensuing rules and enforcement is a minefield of controversy, one we should
navigate with extreme caution.