A 1,260-pound blue marlin, measuring more than 11 feet in length, has been caught off the coast of Massachusetts, potentially making it the largest Atlantic blue marlin ever landed on the U.S. East Coast. The catch was made Wednesday by charter fishing captain Damon Sacco and his client Walter Chapman in waters approximately 100 miles off Cape Cod in the Atlantis Canyon.
The fish weighed 1,260 pounds (571.5 kilograms) upon its return to Falmouth, Massachusetts. This is just 142 pounds shy of the International Game Fish Association's world record for an Atlantic blue marlin, which was caught off Brazil in 1992. The size of the catch is particularly remarkable given the location.
"The water is too cold for them in the Northeast most of the year, making the window to catch a big one very narrow," said Walt Golet, director of the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab. Golet speculated the fish could be between 25 and 30 years old and its head is being sent to his lab for age determination.
Golet anticipates that large blue marlin catches in the Atlantic might be infrequent for the coming years. Blue marlin are seasonal visitors to the area, known for their migratory patterns.
The marlin was caught using a rod and reel after a roughly three-hour struggle. Chapman, a retiree and lifelong fisherman, described the fish as appearing "like a glimmering blue spaceship" as it emerged from the depths. Sacco noted that the fish left marks on the boat's transom with its bill, calling them "war marks."
The meat from the fish was divided among about a dozen people. Chapman indicated that some of it would be used for fish chowder. A crowd gathered at the dock to witness the weighing of the massive catch, with onlookers calling it a "catch of a lifetime."