Off the Mexican Pacific coast, high catch rates are found for striped
marlin, sailfish and swordfish, and to a lesser extent for blue marlin
and black marlin, making this area an important fishing ground for co
mmercial and sport-fishing fisheries. This paper focuses on the develo
pment of the billfish fisheries and their management in the Pacific wa
ters of Mexico. Three periods are described: (1) 1900-1959, (2) 1960-1
989 and (3) 1990 to the present. During the period of 1900 to 1959, sp
ort fishing began to develop, resulting in important tourist resorts.
A system of fishing permits for this incipient fishery went into force
. Also during this period, Mexico established a territorial sea jurisd
iction of 9 nautical miles. From 1960 to 1989, commercial fishing for
billfish began in Mexico, with the arrival of the Japanese tuna longli
ne fishery, where billfishes were taken as by-catch. Then, with the es
tablishment of the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Me
xico developed its own longline fishery at the beginning of 1980. Beca
use of the fishing interactions between the sport and commercial fishe
ries, efforts to manage both fisheries were undertaken. At the beginni
ng of the third period (1990 to the present), the commercial fishing f
or marlin and sailfish in Mexico was prohibited and only commercial fi
shing for swordfish is allowed today. Recently, a plan for the develop
ment of the sport fishery was published, and regulations on bag limits
and fishing gear were established. Although billfish are highly migra
tory species, Mexico asserted its right to manage this species unilate
rally in its EEZ. The sport-fishing industry represents a high value i
nput to its economy, but only operates within the first 50 nautical mi
les of its EEZ. The lack of patrol, enforcement and presence of commer
cial fishermen offshore has resulted in some illegal fishing activitie
s by foreign fishing vessels.