Atlantic tarpon

Game fishing

Tarpons are considered one of the great saltwater game fishes, not only because of their size and their accessible haunts, but also because of their fighting spirit when hooked; they are very strong, making spectacular leaps into the air. The flesh is undesirable and bony. In Florida and Alabama, a special permit is required to kill and keep a tarpon, so most tarpon fishing there is catch and release.

Despite its name, the Atlantic tarpon is not limited to one body of water or exclusive to the East Coast. In their northern migration, they range through the Florida Keys and gradually make their way up the west coast of Florida and on to the Texas coast. The International Sábalo (tarpon) Fishing Tournament is held every May in Tecolutla on Mexico's Costa Esmeralda.

Geographical distribution and migration

Since tarpons are not commercially valuable as a food fish, very little has been documented concerning their geographical distribution and migrations. They inhabit both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Their range in the eastern Atlantic has been reliably established from Senegal to the Congo. Tarpons inhabiting the western Atlantic are principally found to populate warmer coastal waters primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and the West Indies. Nonetheless, they are regularly caught by anglers at Cape Hatteras and as far as Nova Scotia, Bermuda, and south to Argentina. Scientific studies indicate schools have routinely migrated through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back for over 70 years. They have not been shown to breed in the Pacific Ocean, but anecdotal evidence by tarpon fishing guides and anglers indicates it is possible, as over the last 60 years, many small juveniles and some mature giants have been caught and documented, principally on the Pacific side of Panama at the Bayano River, in the Gulf of San Miguel and its tributaries, Coiba Island in the Gulf of Chiriquí, and at Piñas Bay in the Gulf of Panama. Since tarpons tolerate a wide range of salinity and are opportunistic feeders, their migrations are only limited only by water temperatures. They prefer water temperatures of 72 to 82°F; below 60°F they become inactive, and temperatures under 40°F can be lethal. A large non-migrant tarpon community is found in the Rio San Juan and Lake Nicaragua.