The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) expanding Groundswell Projects satellite tagging program continues to reveal new insights into the movements of some of the ocean’s most iconic gamefish. Recent tag returns from blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, and striped marlin are helping researchers better understand migration routes, habitat use, and the connectivity of billfish populations across the Atlantic and Pacific.
While satellite tags are significant investments and not foolproof, TBF’s recent deployments have achieved more than an~80% reporting rate. This success reflects improved deployment techniques, experienced crews, and strong collaboration among anglers and scientists.
Every successful tag provides a rare glimpse into the lives of highly migratory billfish and adds valuable information to help guide future conservation and management.
See below for the latest on each our five current Groundswell Projects.
SoFlo Sailfish Initiative
Launched in 2024, the SoFL Sailfish Initiative is focused on one of the world’s premier Atlantic sailfish fisheries. By studying sailfish movements in South Florida, the project is helping to provide critical data to support future conservation and fisheries management, and allow scientists to better understand how these fish use the region’s waters.
Two Satellite tags recently popped off from this project, delivering new insights into sailfish movements. While one tag ended up 70 miles NW of Cancun, Mexico, the second provided an even more surprising and interesting result; the sailfish traveled 500 miles east of New Jersey! This is one of the northernmost offshore movements recorded for a tagged sailfish in the western Atlantic.
Project Gulf
Sponsored by Garmin and Columbia PFG, Project Gulf is a collaborative effort to better understand blue and white marlin across one of the world’s most productive billfish fisheries. By bringing together anglers, scientists, tourna
ments, and industry partners throughout the region, the project is building a clearer picture of how these species move, behave, and connect across international waters.
Thanks to support from the Dorland family and the Orange Beach Billfish Classic, over a dozen satellite tags have already been secured. With tournament season now complete, boats like the Breath Easy and Work of Art have begun to deploy them.
As of now, the fleet of nearly 10 boats has until the end of September to get these tags out, and we at TBF wish all involved the best of luck offshore!
The Skillie Project
The Skillie Project is one of the first research initiatives dedicated to juvenile white marlin. By studying these young fish off Nantucket and Cape Cod, researchers hope to uncover critical information about their early life history. This stage has remained largely unexplored despite its importance to the species’ future.
A white marlin tagged by the crew of Riptide completed an impressive eight-month (full duration) deployment before the tag surfaced just north of the Bahamas. The resulting tracks provided valuable information on seasonal movements and habitat utilization.
Researchers are continuing to analyze the data, but early results suggest the fish’s journey will contribute meaningful new knowledge to the growing body of white marlin research.
The Caribbean Project
The Caribbean Project is expanding billfish research into a region where scientific data has historically been limited. Working alongside local governments, researchers, and anglers, the initiative is laying the groundwork for stronger regional conservation and a better understanding of Caribbean billfish populations.
During a Viking Yachts and Costa Sunglasses-supported expedition off the Dominican Republic, a blue marlin successfully carried its satellite tag for the full six-month deployment period. The tag eventually surfaced approximately 100 miles offshore near the North Carolina/Virginia border, allowing researchers to begin analyzing the fish’s journey.
Based on straight-line distance alone, the marlin traveled roughly 1,100 miles between tagging and tag release. Its journey provides another compelling example of how widely billfish move and how interconnected billfish habitats can be across the western Atlantic.
Marlin Fly Project
The Marlin Fly Project explores the growing fly fishery for striped marlin off Mexico’s Pacific coast. By combining satellite tagging with the expertise of fly anglers and local guides, the project is generating new insights into a unique fishery while supporting the long-term conservation of this iconic species.
A striped marlin tagged during the Marlin Fly expedition completed its full eight-month deployment before the tag surfaced in the northern Sea of Cortez (eventually being recovered on the beach!)
Preliminary information indicates the fish traveled around Los Cabos before moving north into the Gulf of California. Researchers are now awaiting the complete dataset, which will provide a much more detailed picture of the fish’s movements throughout its deployment.
From the waters off South Florida to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, Nantucket, and Mexico’s Pacific coast, these fish are revealing just how far billfish travel, and how connected their habitats and communities truly are.
For TBF, satellite tagging is about more than following a dot on a map. It is about turning the experiences of anglers and the journeys of individual fish into knowledge that can benefit billfish and the communities dependent on them. Every tag deployed, every person who participates, and every data point returned helps build a better understanding of these remarkable species and strengthens the foundation for their future.
To learn more and get involved, click here.
