The most spectacular of Bermuda's game fish can look forward to a more carefree, and certainly much longer life, thanks to one of the best success stories in the Island's conservation efforts.

Mr. Tom Smith, Bermuda's representative on the International Game Fish Association and fishing consultant to the Department of Tourism, has been the prime mover and administrator of the "release'' programme which encourages the return of the blue marlin to the sea, rather than killing it for "sport.'' Statistics kept by Mr. Smith reveal that 1991 saw the number of marlins released by charter boat skippers double to an impressive figure of 231 -- 80 percent of fish caught compared to only 40 percent when the programme began in 1985.

He says that it was the support of the Department of Tourism in mid-1990, in providing specially designed Certificates of Release, that brought the big turn-around in the figures. "Fortunately, nowadays, as people are more aware of conservation issues, we find that most of our visitors are quite content to display a certificate on their wall back home, rather than a stuffed, dead fish.'' Renowned for its agile beauty and strength as it leaps in and out of the waves, the blue (and the smaller white) marlin has long been the target of more "macho'' sportsmen, personified by the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, who did much to promote the sport's popularity.

During the 1930s the sport was gradually established here, with several charter boats laid on by enterprising owners for tourists and locals to try their luck, and angling clubs were formed which still flourish today.

But as "animal rights'' became a rallying call around the world, attention was eventually turned to the creatures of the sea. Mr. Smith says he believes the turning point for Bermuda came in the late '80s as a result of a photograph that was published of the Annual Bill Fish Tournament, showing ten marlin strung up at the dock at Spanish Point, having been frozen over a four-day period.

"It proved that there were plenty of marlin to be fished, but it really sickened people to see that these wonderful creatures had been killed to give someone an ego trip.'' Mr. Smith admits that it was also this picture which brought about the change in his own attitude, when he came to realise that killing for no other reason than sport was not only unjustified but was also placing this marine species in danger of eventual extinction.

The destruction of the marlin was even more senseless, he says, because it is not a food fish. "We had no trouble in persuading the commercial fishermen because there's little profit in marlin. It was a bit harder with the game-fishing people, but gradually we got their support.'' With new technology and the expertise of the skippers, accurate measurements of length, girth and weight can be obtained and a fibreglass replica created.

"They do such a good job, it's hard to tell the difference, but it means that people can still hang it on the wall as a perpetual reminder of that day of glory,'' he says.

Skippers who used to get a 10 percent commission on every fish sent to the taxidermist, are still paid a percentage for the replica orders.

Heading the leading charter boats in the 1991 release programme was Mr. Alan Card's Challenger , which released 39 of 42 marlin caught, closely followed by Mr. Allan DeSilva's Mako-4 , which released 31 out of 34. This boat had led the fleet in 1990, releasing 37 out of 44 caught.

Sea Wolfe , skippered by Mr. Russell Young released 18 out of 22, and Big Blue (Mr. Henry DeSilva) chalked up a figure of 14 out of 16. Of the smaller total catches, Mr. Eugene Barnes' Blue Chip released four out of 14, boating 10, while Reel Action (Mr. Andrew Card) released 11 out of 13, Reba-M (Mr. Allan Edness), nine out of 12 and Mr. J. Dawson's Gringo nine out of 10.

Mr. Alan Card is enthusiastic about the release programme. "You could say that our motto is, `We don't kill anything we can't use.' In Bermuda, there is no real use for the marlin, although it is a food source in Jamaica and South America. I think we have to ask ourselves, how many blue marlin will be left in the world by the year 2000 if we continue killing them?'' He says that when he explains the release system to people who go out on his boat, "they go for it right away.'' He also points out that even in the days when the fish were immortalised by the taxidermist, very little of the fish was actually used, mainly because of problems with oil seepage.

"They have been using fibreglass for quite a while now, and it looks completely real.'' The only cloud on Mr. Card's horizon is that the local recession and the downturn in tourism makes this an anxious time for the big boats. "So far, the bookings for this year are not good.'' MARLIN MASSACRE -- Pictures like this in the early '80s helped turn the tide of opinion against the systematic slaughter of the marlin for "sporting'' purposes.