Hudson Canyon Marine Sanctuary Update
Last week, stakeholders convened at Monmouth University for a one-day meeting to discuss the proposed Hudson Canyon Marine Sanctuary. The Hudson Canyon, located off the New York and New Jersey coast, holds immense ecological and socio-economic importance. The proposed sanctuary boundaries and management have yet to be set and one of the goals of the […]
Sailfish Satellite Tagging in Palm Beach
On March 13th, TBF’s Peter Chaibongsai and TJ Morrell met up with the crews, and research team in Singer Island, Florida to discuss logistics for the upcoming satellite tagging trip. The goal: satellite tag Atlantic sailfish over the next two days. With only a few instances of Atlantic sailfish being satellite tagged here in South […]
Bluefin Tuna Closure for Angling Category
Based on the best available landings information from NOAA Fisheries, the 2.3-mt sub-quota of the Southern Area Trophy Fishery has been reached and exceeded. Effective as of February 9th, 2024, the closure will remain throughout the rest of the year, officially ending on December 31st, 2024. The area in question is defined as south of […]
Closure of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category (Commercial) Fishery
The general category of Bluefin tuna will be closed from January 26th, 2024, to March 31st, 2024 based on the most recent landings information. The available data projected the 58.2-mt quota would be reached and exceeded during this time period. All Atlantic Tunas General category permitted vessels, as well as highly migratory species charter and […]
Billfish Magazine V3 for 2023 being delivered!
Our latest edition of Billfish Magazine’s 2023 is being shipped this week to our members! This issue is packed with a variety of topics, including our roundup of all of our tournament travel, the annual gala, and coverage of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute conference, as well as offering an update on domestic issues […]
Swordfish Driftnets Gone off CA – Will Longlines Follow?
West Coast highly migratory species (HMS) issues now focus on what fisheries will follow the large mesh drift gillnet fishery for swordfish. The process has begun by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to decide, with public input, what fisheries can essentially replace the driftnet fishery to provide fresh swordfish to local markets. The search for […]
Our New Conservation Record is out!
TBF’s 2021 Conservation Record has officially been completed and the results are in! Sometimes it can be hard to summarize all the hard work done in a year’s time, but this report acts as a really good start. In total, there were 11,822 new data entries added to The Billfish Foundation’s database in 2021, […]
NOAA Fisheries Denies Petition to Establish a Mandatory Speed Limit in Gulf of Mexico
A huge win for the recreational community occurred on Friday, October 27th, 2023 when the petition to establish a mandatory, 10.5-knot speed limit in the Gulf of Mexico was denied by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The speed limit, among other vessel-related mitigation measures, was proposed in an attempt to reduce vessel collisions with […]
NOAA Announces $82 Million in Funding for North Atlantic Right Whale
NOAA earmarked a $82 million fund dedicated to the conservation and recovery of the North Atlantic right whales. With this announcement, we again want to champion an innovative idea. NOAA’s antiquated approach (and proposed measure) of imposing ineffective, widespread speed restrictions across vast regions hasn’t worked. Such measures not only lack high compliance rates but […]
TBF’s Official Comments in NMFS Amendment 15
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) made official comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on Draft Amendment 15 to the Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan. We are extremely disappointed in the overly complex, technical, and lengthy presentation of the amendment, feeling as though the reader would need a Ph.D. in modeling fish […]
