First of all Congrats on your first... I think that the majority of Marlin that are caught by Recreational anglers are tagged and released, I dont blame you for keeping your first,
To all the Haters, Taking one Marlin for you/or your Family has no real ill affect on the population as a whole, Anyone who has spent time on a longliner/commercial fishing boat will know exactly what i am talking about... In 98 a legislative ban was placed in NSW prohibiting the commercial take of blue and black marlin, Wheteher dead or alive. How many fish do you think are released back DEAD by Commercial Fisherman, How many do you think are taken every year by Pro Fisherman....
Instead of Hating on Venomous for taking his FIRST marlin, How about you take that time to research commercial fishing your area, and write to the minister of fisheries, Perhaps express your disgust there, If this is the way you feel about someone taking one fish I could imagine you would be disgusted in the amount of fish taken from your local area.