Skip to main content

Spot the Marlin

2 people with small child holding a large fish on a boat

Have you ever heard of a big, blue fish so marvelous it’s able to change colors? The marlin is a tall fish – and a hugely popular game fish. People from all over the world come to Cap Cana and Punta Cana to catch this fat one. You might even see a blue or a white marlin in Punta Cana on a boat trip with Boat Trips Punta Cana!

 

The story of the Marlin

The Blue marlin is a blue and silvery fish with a sharp bill on its ‘nose’. It uses this bill to stun, wound and kill schools of smaller fish. This fish is a hunter and a good one! Its only natural enemies are killer whales, some bigger species of shark and – of course – humans. But more about that later.

Marlin enjoys the warmer, subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean – this is why you also see marlin in Punta Cana. They thrive around the Equator, breeding, and feeding on a wide variety of smaller fish. Females can grow to four times the size of male fish, at the largest recorded height of 5 meters. The white marlin is also regularly spotted.

Famous writer Ernest Hemingway wrote about blue marlin in his book The Old Man and the Sea, in which a fisherman named Santiago battles the fish for three days near the coast of Cuba.

 

Fishery and dangers

So fishermen like to catch marlins, as they’re both a great (and heavy) price and a good fish to eat, commercially. Especially in Japan, this big boy is used to make sashimi of. However, as the fish is often caught as bycatch in tuna fisheries, the marlin is under large pressure of fading out. In the Caribbean region alone, Japanese and Cuban fishermen catch over a thousand tons of marlin every year.

On the sports side of fishing, it’s important to know that game fishermen catch and release marlins. The sportfishing pursuit of for example the blue marlin is huge – a multimillion dollar industry! The biggest blue marlin was caught in Brazil. The fish weighed 1,402 lb 2 oz (636 kg). Sports fishermen are trying to conserve the blue marlin by tagging them electronically, to follow their path.

 

What should you do when you see a marlin?

Scream! Rejoice! Applaud! The marlin is a beautiful fish. When you’re the lucky fishermen who caught one, appreciate it, and then return it to the ocean. Visiting a seafood restaurant? Try not to eat marlin, as they’re under pressure and on Greenpeace’s seafood red list. Best to enjoy this fish in its natural habitat. The blue marlin in Punta Cana should stay there – not on a plate, but under the waves.

 

Want to see some of our catches? Go to our Instagram page @breakersboattripspuntacana or check us out on facebook @BreakersBoatTrips

Read more blogs about snorkeling for the first time and Punta Cana´s underwater museum. 

I’m snorkeling in Punta Cana for the first time. The Right way! Previous Article Spot Punta Cana’s 5 most colorful fish Next Article