A 1,260-pound blue marlin, caught off the coast of Massachusetts, is believed to be the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever landed on the U.S. East Coast. Damon Sacco, a charter fishing captain, and his client Walter Chapman landed the massive billfish on Wednesday after a three-hour battle.
The fish measured more than 11 feet in length and weighed 1,260 pounds when brought back to Falmouth, Massachusetts. This catch falls just 142 pounds shy of the world record for an Atlantic blue marlin, which was caught off Brazil in 1992.
Catching such a large marlin in the waters off New England is considered remarkable due to the water temperature. Walt Golet, director of the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab, noted that the Northeast's waters are typically too cold for blue marlin for most of the year, creating a narrow window for encountering large specimens.
The marlin's head is being sent to the UMaine lab for aging, with Golet speculating it could be between 25 and 30 years old. He added that it is unlikely that many blue marlin over 1,200 pounds will be caught in the Atlantic in the coming years.
The catch occurred in Atlantis Canyon, an underwater canyon approximately 100 miles off Cape Cod, where blue marlin are seasonal visitors. Chapman fought the fish using a rod and reel, while Sacco captained the boat, the Castafari.
Chapman, a retiree and lifelong fisherman, plans to share the meat among about a dozen people, with some likely destined for fish chowder. He described the marlin as the largest fish he has ever caught. The fish's bill left two marks on the boat's transom, which Sacco referred to as "war marks."
A crowd gathered when the boat returned to the dock to witness the weighing of the fish. Onlooker Katie Curran described the event as spectacular, stating that such a catch is rare for anglers who may fish their entire lives without a comparable experience.