
%0 Journal Article
%A Holdsworth, John 
%A Saul, Peter 
%A Browne, Gene 
%T Factors affecting striped marlin catch rate in the New Zealand recreational fishery
%J Marine and Freshwater Research
%D 2003/08/19
%V 54
%N 4
%P 473-481
%K billfish moratorium, recreational catch per unit effort, south-west Pacific, striped marlin.
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/MF01271
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF01271 
%X A 25-year time series of striped marlin catch per unit effort (CPUE) data has been collected from gamefish charter skippers fishing the north-east coast of New Zealand. The CPUE averaged over the whole gamefishing season ranged from 0.053 striped marlin per charter boat day in 1984&#8211;1985 to 0.269 striped marlin per charter boat day in 1998&#8211;1999. This study investigates the amount of the variability in gamefish charter CPUE that can be explained by environmental and fishing-related factors for the period 1981&#8211;1997. Factors investigated were sea surface temperature during the fishing season, El Ni&#241;o southern oscillation index, the position of the 20&#176;C isotherm at the beginning of the fishing season, annual commercial catch of striped marlin in the New Zealand 200 mile zone and surface longline CPUE in the wider south-west Pacific. A stepwise multiple regression was used to develop a model of recreational striped marlin CPUE to determine the factors that best accounted for the variation observed. Surface longline CPUE in the general south-west Pacific (10&#176;S&#8211;40&#176;S latitude, 165&#176;E&#8211;160&#176;W longitude) had the strongest correlation with recreational CPUE (P = 0.001), but a poor correlation was found with longline CPUE from the western Tasman Sea and Coral Sea (10&#176;S&#8211;40&#176;S latitude, 145&#176;E&#8211;165&#176;E longitude). The total surface longline catch of striped marlin in New Zealand each season was negatively correlated with recreational CPUE (P = 0.019), which indicates a possible interaction between these fisheries. 
