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ousspeciesincludingbillfishtoremainclosertothesurfacewhereoxygenlevelsarehigherthusmakingthemmorevulner-abletofishingpressures.Thisisnewandstrikingevidence.TheseconditionsoccurintheeasternAtlanticandeasternPa-cificoceansbutrarelyinthewest-ernNorthAtlantic.AccordingtoDr.PrincesuchconditionsmaybeacluetowhythestatusoftheeasternNorthAtlanticsailfishstockisreduced.ThatthesehypoxicconditionsarenotcommoninthewesternAtlanticmaybeakeyfactorinfluencingmorefavorableassumptionsforthesailfishonthissideoftheAtlantic.Thereareotherreasonsatworkonthissideaswell.Forexampleoneimportantcharacteristicisthatsailfisharemorex1ccoastalinnaturex1dthanotherbillfishorbluefintunas.Tagandreleaseandre-capturedataforoverfiftyyearsWoodsHoleCooperativeTaggingPro-gramNMFSandTBFshowdecidedlythatsailfishdonotcrosstheAtlanticlikeotherhighlymigratorypelagicspecies.Soitisunlikelythateastandweststocksmixtoanygreatextent.Greatestconcentra-tionsofsailfishoccurnearlandmassesandinsidethecontinentalshelflessthanorequalto600footdepths.Thisisadvantageousbecausetheretheydonotcomeunderthegreatestfishingpressuresofthehighseaslonglinefleets.Forfisherymanagementpurposesthisiswhereourstockofsailfishresideandwhereweshouldbemostvigilant.Thisconstitutestheareaencompassingthemid-AtlanticwestwardthroughtheGulfofMexicoandsouthwardtonorthernBrazilandVenezu-elaandalltheCaribbeanSea.Alsosailfishprobablyhavegreaternumbersofindividualsintheirpopulationthantheblueorwhitemarlinsespeciallynowwithmarlinsx19estimatedreducedbiomasslevels.Sailfisharealsoknowntoaggregateinlargenumbersnearlandmassesandthisbehaviorincreasesthepossibilityoffindingeachotherforspawningpurposesregardlessofwheretheymigratealongvastreachesofcoastline.Suchcharacteris-ticsappeartobepivotalinhelpingsustainthewesternAtlanticstockduringpastdecadesofincreasingfishingpressure.LastbutfarfromleastoneotherpositiveaspectofthewesternAtlanticsailfisheryisunique.Anglersandtheircrewshavedevelopedanalmostuniversalcatch-and-releaseethic.Thiswaspioneeredbackinthe1930x19sand1940x19sbytheWPBFCandothers.TheWPBFCsawthefutilityofcharterboatslandingallormostoftheircatchsometimesingreatnumbersx1cbackinthegoodoledays.x1dItwasacommonsightinFloridabetweenFt.PierceandMiamiandsomeintheanglingcommunitybelieveditshouldstop.MembersofEarlypromotionaleffortsadvocatingthecatchreleaseethicforsailx1bshincludedthisbillboardseenbyallx1bshingboatsleavingPalmBeachInlet.