Introduction

1. Introduction

Since ancient times, flocks of black seabirds have indicated the presence of huge schools of tuna swimming off Hawai‘i (Glazier 2016a). Found among these tuna schools are IndoPacific (Makaira mazara) and Atlantic (M. nigricans) blue marlin (both here referred to as blue marlin, kajiki or a‘u), black marlin (M. indica or a‘u), striped marlin (Kajikia audax and Tetrapturus audax, nairagi or a‘u), shortbill spearfish (T. angustirostris or hebi), sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) and broadbill swordfish (Xiphias gladius, mekajiki or shutome). (See Collette and Graves 2019 and HawaiiSeafood.org.) These pelagic fish have been well known to the fishermen of the Western Pacific for hundreds of years (Amesbury 2008) and have long played an important role in Pacific Island culture.

Longlining is an 18th century Japanese fishing technique—considered the most efficient means of subsurface fishing for tuna on the open sea—that found its way to Hawai‘i in the early twentieth century. As the longlining industry grew alongside the world’s demand for tuna, a number of big game fishermen on the U.S. mainland complained that the Japanese longline fishermen were taking too many prized large blue marlin, turning what could be rare and beautiful sport trophies into fish cake. A clash of cultures and classes developed.

Unlike their counterparts in Hawai‘i, who also caught marlin for sport, big game fishermen from the U.S. mainland did not normally eat the marlin and other fish they caught. They were not interested in the flavor of the fish but in the exhilaration of catching an elusive quarry and sharing the experience with their friends. They created yacht clubs, competitions and social gambling events around the catching of marlin and other billfish. Believing that marlin, like freshwater trout, were too valuable to be caught only one time for eating, they started the practice called catch and release, which allowed the same large marlin or other billfish to survive after being hooked so they might be caught multiple times.

Eventually, a pastime for the very rich evolved into a recreational charter and tournament industry associated with gaming that is today valued at more than $3 billion (Ditton and Stoll 2003).1 As this elite industry grew in size and influence, it changed the nature of the sport and transformed the balance between recreational and commercial fishing in U.S. waters. The competition between U.S. big game fishermen and commercial fishermen, as it affects U.S. regulatory practices and the islands and peoples within the jurisdiction of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC), is the subject of this history.

Fig. 2. Pacific blue marlin (Makaira mazara) is commonly known in Hawai‘i as kajiki or a‘u (the Hawaiian word applied to all marlin species). Photo: Hawaii Seafood Council