The relative importance of lunar phase and environmental conditions on striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) catches in sport fishing

Abstract

We used generalized additive mixed models to analyze data on striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) catches in Baja California sport fisheries (1987-1989) to investigate the relative importance of lunar phase, sea surface temperature (SST), El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index, and vessel effects on catch per unit effort (CPUE). The results indicate that the moon phase has no or little (<1% of variance explained) influence on CPUE. In contrast, both SST (10%) and ENSO (6%) influenced CPUE positively. While most of the variation in CPUE remains unexplained (53%), the vessel identity explained small (ca. 1.5%) but significant amount of variance in CPUE. Hence, sport fishermen wishing to maximise their striped marlin catches would best plan their trips on the basis of weather conditions and boat/crew identities, rather than on the basis of lunar phase.