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VOL. 10.2

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Sailfish Deserve a Sporting Chance

By Phil Watkins

In most well-established fishing destinations, catch-and-release is the norm; although some progress is being made in Phuket waters, there's still room for improvement.

I watched a sailfish tailwalk across the surface, and concluded I didn't have to die to go to Heaven!" That's an extract from an article in Playboy Magazine on fishing in Phuket. For the life of me I can't remember whether the centrefold was a blonde or a brunette, but I'll never forget the quote.

Sailfish are designed to give pleasure, and not only to other sailfish. They've been exciting anglers since the dawn of saltwater gamefishing. Known to a few uninitiated as "the poor man's marlin" — a totally unjustified slur — the sailfish is an acrobatic heart-stopper. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have witnessed their spectacular performances several hundred times over, and it never fails to thrill me. (There are some anglers who are only interested in seeing these fish jump when they have a hook in their mouth. It is certainly true that they do put on a stunning display when fighting for their freedom, but a free-jumping sailfish displays all the grace, all the magnificence of a prima ballerina.)

As a sailfish hot-spot, when these creatures are on song, Phuket can compare with anywhere in the world. The word is out, and anglers are arriving from all over the world to do battle with these superb sportfish. This should be good news for Phuket — good news for resorts, restaurants, tackle shops and charter boat operators alike. Unfortunately it can be bad news for the sailfish. Yes there is no reason at all to kill these fish. Catch-and-release is common practice in most well-established fishing destinations; it could, and should be, the same in Phuket waters.

Sailfish have very little commercial value; a few Baht a kilo is all you could expect to get in the market. The sad truth is that the charterboats that kill the sailfish are killing their own future — they're committing economic suicide. If they were all to release the fish unharmed, the anglers would keep coming back year after year to fish for them. Phuket is in a position to learn from the mistakes of others. Several countries worldwide were once fishing hot-spots and, because of bad management and killing their natural resources, they have been abandoned by anglers and have consequently lost billions of dollars in tourist revenue.

Anglers and skippers who do kill billfish will always argue that they do not do as much damage as commercial fishing boats. This may be the case, but it must be remembered that the sole purpose of commercial fishing boats is to supply the human race with food. There is no need to add to the plight of the ocean's fish stocks by needlessly slaughtering sportfish. Sailfish are far from being a desirable foodfish for commercial fishermen, and they are very rarely targeted. (A commercial boat going through a difficult period may occasionally go for an easy catch and net an area known to hold sailfish; this is a sad but, fortunately, unusual occurrence.)

I fail to understand the logic in a charterboat skipper's reluctance to release sailfish. I am baffled. They must realize it makes sense to protect their, and their children's future.

It is not difficult to release a sailfish, even after it has been photographed with the angler. But anglers have told me they have demanded the release of their fish, only to be told by the skipper that the fish won't survive the ordeal — that released fish will die anyway.

The internationally recognized form of gamefish management, tag-and-release, shoots that theory down. Hundreds of tagged fish, many of them sailfish, are recaptured every year throughout the world. (I may be stepping on dangerous ground here, but I am not entirely in favour of tag-and-release. I have my doubts about where the information gleaned from tag data ends up. This may be eccentric, but I see nothing wrong with simply letting the fish go free and unharmed. That way at least the fish — and the gamefishing industry — will benefit. Once you start sticking tags in them and sending off details of the capture, the fish becomes vulnerable.)

The situation in Phuket has gone beyond simply trying to persuade skippers to release their billfish. It's time to look at far more serious ways of dealing with the problem. The obvious answer is to simply make the killing of billfish (sailfish, marlin and swordfish) and sharks illegal. This is easy to say, of course, but difficult to enforce. If the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and other concerned government agencies knew the true value of maintaining healthy stocks of sportfish, however, I am sure something could be done. There are numerous sportfishing venues that are drawing millions of big-spending sportfishermen every year. Phuket is already a well-established diving destination. Fishing is the most popular participant sport in the world, and a beautiful island like Phuket, offering year-round action with sailfish could ultimately attract at least as many big-game anglers.

Phuket's current fleet is certain to increase each season. The island is becoming better established each year on the sportfishing map. If nothing is done to protect the sailfish, however, Phuket's fame will be short-lived — it will surely go the way of the other kill-'em-all hot-spots.