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Catch and Effort Trends for Dolphin in the WCA

Photo: W. Merten

In 2022, our program published a paper on the Condition of the international fisheries, catch and effort trends, and fishery
data gaps for dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) from 1950 to 2018 in the Western Central Atlantic Ocean in the journal Marine Policy.  Here, we provide an update of most analyses in that paper with data provided by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program through to 2023 and 2025, respectively.  In addition, data on catch, effort, and price per pound for dolphinfish were acquired from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission from 1984 to 2025.  Key highlights from this update are included below: 

Figure 1 Commercial dolphinfish landings (metric tons) for first reporting nations and the group “All Others” from 1950 to 2023. See table 1 below.

Article Highlights

  • 22 nations still do not report WCA dolphinfish landings to the FAO, yet are known to catch dolphinfish; 
  • In the WCA, the US Atlantic recreational fishery still represents the largest reporting sector by nearly two-fold;
  • Combined reported commercial and recreational landings for 2019, the most recent year with data available, was 10,286 metric tons, of which 65% was estimated to be recreational catch, a 3% increase since our last analysis;
  • Six nations recorded higher average commercial landings from 2014-2018 to 2019-2023 time periods; 
  • Over the same periods, 14 nations recorded higher average unidentified marine fish landings or unidentified tuna landings;
  • Seven nations recorded a positive recreational dolphinfish catch trend;
  • However, over the same periods, US Atlantic and Gulf states MRIP total recreational landings declined 45% 

Table 1  Nation groupings used in catch and effort analysis.  For effort, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) fleet codes and fleet names are provided for the first reporting nations (dating back to 1956) and all other nations reporting Task II effort since Mahon (1999).  For dolphinfish catch provided to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), country names are included for first reporting nations, all others, and nations not reporting dolphinfish since Mahon (1999) to 2023. 

Data Sources

Data that was not included in this update are from the Sea Around Us (SAU) project.  The SAU project informed our group that data to 2022 will be available in mid-2026.  In addition, 2025 MRIP data are preliminary.   Once 2025 MRIP data are finalized we will update each relevant analysis as well as monitor 2026 preliminary MRIP data that is published periodically throughout the year in waves.  FAO data were collected through the FishStatJ application.  ICCAT task 2 effort data was collected through ICCAT’s website.  FWC data were acquired through the FWC website.    

Table 2  Average commercial landings (metric tons) for dolphinfish in the Caribbean (Zone 31 and 41) between two time periods for countries reporting dolphinfish to the FAO.  Unidentified commercial landings of fishes that could include dolphinfish presented in three groups: unidentified marine fish (# italics), unidentified tuna-like fishes (# underlined), and unidentified pelagic fish (# bolded). The trend for each category is presented as follows: trend began (S), decreased (-), increased (+), or stayed the same (=). A X for unidentified landings indicated the same value was reported over the period. For recreational fleets, 2016 and 2019 dolphinfish specific landings and percent dolphinfish of total recreational catch or total recreational catch is provided by the Sea Around Us or Marine Recreational Information Program (United States and Puerto Rico. This table was modified following Merten et al. 2022. Fleet letters: R = recreational; A = artisanal; C = commercial. UIM = unidentified marine fish; UIT = unidentified tuna-like fish; UIP = unidentified pelagic fish; n/a = not applicable; n/r = not reporting. DOL = dolphinfish species landings.   Yellow highlighted cells show positive trends for dolphinfish, UIM, and UIT landings.  The superscript values are the percent increase between the time periods.  

Figure 2 Pelagic longline effort (number of hooks) by first reporting nations and the group “All Others” for areas (A) outside and (B) inside jurisdictions from 1956 to 2023. 
Figure 3 Pelagic longline effort (number of hooks set) by first reporting nations (black circles) and “All Others” (gray circles) grouped in 5 x 5 degree spatial squares for areas inside national EEZs (A) and outside of national EEZs (B) from 1950 to 2023. 
Figure 4 Coastal and oceanic species landings (metric tons) for countries not reporting dolphinfish (upper panel) and countries reporting dolphinfish (bottom panel) from 1950 to 2023. 
Figure 5 Comparisons from 1950 to 2019 for (A) United States FAO commercial dolphinfish landings (metric tons) against the Sea Around Us (SAU) reconstructed dolphinfish landings and the United States Recreations Information Program (MRIP) landings against SAU reconstructed recreational dolphinfish landings; (B) reported FAO un-identified marine fish (UIM) against SAU UIM reconstructed landings for the Western Central Atlantic Ocean.
Figure 6 Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission commercial dolphinfish catch (pounds) compared to total commercial trips per year on Florida’s east coast (upper panel) and commercial catch per unit effort (CPUE) for commercial dolphinfish compared to average price per pound of dolphinfish on the east coast of Florida (lower panel).
Figure 8 Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) dolphinfish total harvest (in pounds; left) and effort (total recreational trips within federal waters; right) for the Gulf of America (GOA), South Atlantic Bight (SAB), Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), and North Atlantic (NA) states from 1981 to 2025.

FWC Data details (Figure 6):  Commercial fisheries landings and fishing effort data have been collected by the state of Florida since November 1984. Florida law (Chapter 379.362(6), and Administrative Code 68E-5.002) requires that all sales of seafood products from the waters of Florida must be reported on a Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket at the time of sale. Trip tickets include information about the harvester, the dealer purchasing the product, the date of the transaction, the county in which the species was landed, area fished, gear used, time fished, and pounds and/or numbers of each species landed for each trip. Completed tickets are either mailed to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or can be submitted electronically through the free software application, VESL.

All permitted dealers are required to report electronically on a weekly basis (some federal permits may require faster submission, please check with NMFS). Currently there are over 730 dealers reporting electronically who account for over 90% of commercial landings statewide. The VESL web application is required for any state waters-only dealer.

Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) dolphinfish total harvest (in pounds; left) and effort (total recreational trips within federal waters; right) for the Gulf of America (GOA), South Atlantic Bight (SAB), Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), and North Atlantic (NA) states from 1981 to 2025.

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