New Zealand has an internationally renowned recreational fishery for large striped marlin with the all tackle record and many IGFA lineclass records being held for fish caught in New Zealand. Major gaps exist however, in our knowledge of the biology and behavior of striped marlin in the southwest Pacific. Conventional tagging has collected basic information for several decades but satellite tagging has initiated a new strategy to further our knowledge of depth and temperature preferences and migration pathways.

Researchers from Massey University and Blue Water Marine Research of New Zealand deployed six Pop-off archival tags (PSAT) on striped marlin in Feb-May 2003 with 5 of them successfully transmitting data. These data are being analyzed and will be published in 2004.

Preliminary results show that tagged marlin spend a high proportion of there time in surface waters and migrate north toward the tropics upon leaving northern New Zealand in the autumn. This research has a high value for informing management strategies for the striped marlin fishery in New Zealand.

The 2003 tagging effort was sufficiently successful that TRCC has committed to assisting the project in 2004. This new effort will be aimed at answering questions about marlin residence times in New Zealand, when they leave the area, where they go, and more information about their oceanographic preferences.