Abundance of Billfishes and Tarpon Over Three Decades in Costa Rica
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/36ktrk87Keywords:
storage effect, habitat compression, mixed layer, El Niño, billfishes, tarpon.Abstract
Introduction: In Costa Rica, recreational fisheries for tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) in the Caribbean and for marlins (Istiompax indica, Kajikia audax, Makaira nigricans) and sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) in the Pacific are an important source of foreign income and employment for coastal communities. However, the populations of these species have not been assessed at either the national or regional level, limiting the development of effective management and conservation strategies.
Methods: In this study, I analyzed temporal trends in standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) for marlins, sailfish, and tarpon using fishing-tournament data from the Costa Rican Amateur Fishing Club covering 1990 to 2025.
Results: In the Pacific, CPUE for sailfish and marlins fluctuated only moderately between 1990 and 2023, averaging 4–7 sailfish releases and one marlin release per boat per day. However, beginning in 2024, sailfish CPUE increased sharply to 10–12 sailfish per boat per day, while the marlin CPUE rose to 1.3 marlins per boat per day (equivalent to four marlins in three days) between 2021 and 2024. In the Caribbean, tarpon CPUE exhibited pronounced fluctuations following a 8–12-year cycle. The most recent decline reduced catches from 5–8 tarpon per boat per day in 2014–2017 to only one tarpon per boat per day between 2021 and 2024.
Conclusions: Recent increases in sailfish and marlin catches may be related to sea-temperature patterns and mixed-layer depth associated with El Niño, the expansion of allowable fishing range in tournaments starting in 2021 (from 50 to 70 nautical miles), and the use of state-of-the-art radar systems. For tarpon, the period of fluctuations coincides with the species’ time to reach sexual maturity, suggesting population collapses triggered by sudden, intense local factors, followed by recovery periods when conditions improve (storage effect). I recommend incorporating distance traveled and the type of sonar used into future CPUE standardizations for billfishes based on recreational fishing data.
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