Did anyone else see this? this guy caught a 200kg Blue Marlin with a speargun!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10554064

yeah good job for an 18yr old Nick must be very stoked with himself.

ok, I have some (serious, not inflammatory) questions here.
1. How plentiful are blue marlin stocks, either in this area or worldwide
2. How long would it have taken a fish like this to grow to this size.
3. What will happen to the fish - sold to restaurants? Eaten privately? (that would take some time!) or will it be thrown away?

just questions.

He says in the article that he is going to get the fish smoked. So I presume he will then eat it... thats what freezers are for!

Blue Marlin come into Nz waters from about January until March-April. They aren't all that common, you'd imagine ten or so get caught a year throughout the North Island warmer waters. They are commonly caught on the east Coast out of Waihau Bay. They aren't as common here as they are in the tropics because our water doesn't hit the 23-28 degree water they live in regularly enough.

But saying that, a couple of weeks ago at the Coromandel fishing comp there were more Blue marlin caught than Stripies, which is very abnormal... Blue and Black marlin grow much bigger than stripes...

I'm not smart enough for your other questions....

no idea how plentiful
apparently they reach size at about 11years old so not that old unlike any big snapper,tarakihi and kingfish you may have eaten
3 they tend to smoke them and share with mates.

It would be illegal for it to be sold to a restaurant unless he was a commercial fisherman with a quota I would guess.