FS: Did you enter that stuff in a logbook?

LONGLINER: Well, not... Some of it, you know.

FS: Like you record the number of swordfish, would you make a mark if you caught a marlin or a dolphin?

LONGLINER: Yeah, well, most of the guys worked with didn’t. The owner of one boat told me, “Don’t write down nothing. It just adds fuel to the fire.” I used to work with a guy who insisted on bringing marlin and sailfish in and cutting their throats; wed send ‘em away bleeding so they wouldn’t mess with our gear. Hundreds of ‘em. It happens all the time. I've done it, and I feel bad about it. That was back when I first started. I was kind of green. Anything that would mess with the gear, they had to kill it.

FS: What’s the most marlin you caught in a day?

LONGLINER: Oh God, once you get in 'em, you’re in ‘em. I ain’t really sure how many. maybe a dozen. Mostly sailfish-once you get in sailfish, you’re in ‘em.

FS: How far offshore were you catching the sailfish?

LONGLINER: Oh, that would be in the Straits. We catch ‘em all in the Straits, from the Keys all the way to Canaveral. But it would seem like if we were offshore, that we were catching bigger mar-in, big monster marlin.

FS: You mentioned you’d catch a turtle or a whale. How many of those would you catch in a month?

LONGLINER: When the turtles are real active or something, then about everyday, in summertime. In winter, not as much, but you’d still catch a half a dozen a month.

FS: What would you do with a turtle?

LONGLINER: Cut it loose and let it swim away. None of those were dead.

FS: And the whales?

LONGLINER: They would always be alive. We used to hate catching them; they’d fight the whole way, trying to get away.

FS: What kind of whales?

LONGLINER: Mostly pilot whales.

FS: So what about dolphin (mahi mahi)?

LONGLINER: We used to really catch a whole bunch, but it isn’t nowhere near what it used to be, weight wise. We used to bring in three, four thousand pounds a week in summer when they were running. We’d be up off South Carolina and North Carolina. But it just don’t happen no more.

FS: If you’re targeting just dolphin, how do you fish? Different than swordfish?

LONGLINER: We never really targeted them. We were sword fishing, and they were just part of the bycatch.

FS: So the dolphin would bite at night?

LONGLINER: Yeah.

FS: And how deep were your lines?

LONGLINER: A hundred and fifty feet.

FS: Did you fish for yellowfin tuna?

LONGLINER: We caught lots of tunas. In wintertime, it seemed like the swordfish would slow down in the Straits, It’s a choice-go catch swords, or go east and catch some tuna. Lots of guys, instead of fight the current, they’d go out and tuna fish.

FS: How far offshore?

LONGLINER: A hundred and fifty miles; you know where the conservation line is?

FS: The EEZ [exclusive economic zone]?

LONGLINER: At a place called the Corner, where it takes a sharp right-hand turn. Out in that area, 150 to 180 miles from the dock on the GPS.

FS: And the swordfish were closer?

LONGLINER: Yeah.

FS: How far offshore in the Straits?

LONGLINER: We’d start in 100 fathoms, and run the line all way to the EEZ. If we had more line to set, we would swing around and do like a horseshoe; before you went over the line [EEZ], you’d turn north, go a little ways, and turn inshore.

FS: In ten years, what did you notice as far as trends in the fishing?

LONGLINER: I noticed how, when we first started, it wasn’t nothing to catch four or five thousand pounds in seven days. Now you got to stay out longer;the fishing’s just getting worse and worse. But the thing that really got tome was having to throw back all them dead fish, all them dead swordfish. There’d be days when 40 or 50 fish, all under size, we’d throw back in the water.

FS: What’s the smallest swordfish you’ve caught?