Post-Release Survival of Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) Captured on Commercial Pelagic Longline Gear in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

To estimate post-release survival of sailfish caught incidentally to regular commercial pelagic longline fishing operations in the southern Gulf of Mexico targeting mixed swordfish and tunas, ten pop-up satellite archival tags were deployed for ten days on incidentally captured animals. All ten tags transmitted following the full deployment period, transmitting 25-82% of the archived data. Repeated, short-duration movements at depth and horizontal displacement data from were consistent with survival of those nine of the ten animals for the ten-day deployment period. The results of this study indicate that sailfish can survive the trauma resulting from interaction with pelagic longline gear and that management measures promoting the release of sailfish from the pelagic longline fishery will reduce fishing mortality on the Atlantic sailfish stocks