BUT FIRST

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BY ANY MEASURE

THERE ARE PLENTY OF FISH IN THE SEA – but how do they all measure up? In order to keep marine populations healthy, size limits are often imposed for recreational catches, and calculating the length of a fi sh isn’t as straightforward as you might think. Some fi sh are regulated by their total length (including species such as snappers, groupers, fl ounder and red drum), some by their fork length (including cobia, mullet, bluefi sh and Spanish mackerel), while others are measured by their curved fork length or lower jaw fork length (think billfi shes such as sailfi sh or marlins).

TOTAL LENGTH Measured from the tip of a fi sh’s closed mouth to the farthest point of its compressed tail

FORK LENGTH Measured from the tip of a fi sh’s closed snout to the centermost point of its forked tail

CURVED FORK LENGTH Measured by tracing a contoured line from the tip of a fi sh’s upper jaw to the middle of its forked tail

LOWER JAW FORK LENGTH Measured in a straight line from the tip of the fi sh’s lower jaw to the middle of its forked tail

FISH TAGGING PROGRAMS help assess and manage local fi sh populations, and the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) has tagged more than 350,000 fi sh since the late 1970s. The NCDMF currently tags fi ve diff erent species, including striped bass, red drum, spotted seatrout, southern fl ounder and cobia – and anglers who encounter a tagged fi sh can do their part by saving the tag along with other information such as the tag number, the total length of the fi sh, and both its catch date and location. For those fi shing good Samaritans, the benefi ts don’t end there, however – anglers who catch a yellowtagged fi sh can receive $5 and a hat or other reward, while those who return a red tag can receive $100 for their eff orts!

In 1983, Russell Langford reeled in this N.C. state record, 768-pound mako shark aboard the Carolinian with Captain Tony

Tillett. (Photo courtesy of

Russell Langford/

Jennette’s Pier.)

MARLIN MADNESS

OF THE 73 NORTH CAROLINA STATE SALTWATER RECORD catches currently recognized by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, 28 of them were landed on the Outer Banks between the shores of Nags Head and the waters off Ocracoke Island. And while three of those local catches also hold World All Tackle Records, the most headline-grabbing catches invariably involve Atlantic blue marlins – one of the ocean’s most sought-after gamefi shes for their sheer size, strength and agility. The current N.C State Saltwater Record holder is a 1,228 lb. 8 oz. blue marlin caught off of Oregon Inlet in 2008.

For 34 years prior, the state (and then-world) record-holding blue marlin was caught in 1974 off of Oregon Inlet, which tipped the scales at 1,142 lbs. and was nearly 14-feet long. The current world-record-holding Atlantic blue marlin weighed a whopping 1,402 lbs. and was caught off the coast of Brazil – though there are rumors that the world’s largest recorded blue marlin once made it to a Tokyo market weighing an astounding 2,438 lbs.

ON THE LINE