Attend TBF’s Space-themed Gala this month!

The Billfish Foundation’s Annual Gala is almost here! Join us at the Harbor Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale on October 29th at 6 pm for an out-of-this-world Space-themed event. The night will kick off with a cocktail hour featuring a silent auction and raffles. Then, we’ll head into the ballroom for dinner, a live auction, and a special awards ceremony where we’ll honor this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winners! Plus, we’ll crown a winner for our space-themed costume contest, so show up in your best galactic gear! The 2021 Gala is brought to you by Garmin, Willis

Changes Coming for Anglers on Atlantic Bluefin Tuna? 

Currently, the NMFS is considering making many changes to the fishery management plan for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) – Bluefin Tuna. Redistributing tonnage allocations to each managed Fishing Category, including the Angling Category, and modifying fishing areas are two of the potentially most impacting options. The Incidental recreational bluefin allocation of trophy-size fish in the Gulf of Mexico, which averages between 5-8 fish a season depending on weight, is most at risk since the Gulf of Mexico is a spawning ground. Though, spawning ground concerns seem to be dismissed in another option, which could authorize permitted Atlantic longline

2021 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients Announced

We at The Billfish Foundation are pleased to announced the winners of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards. The award is named in honor of a former board member and pioneer in billfish conservation, who founded the Sailfish Conservation Club, the Masters Angling Tournament, the Tournament of Champions and the Gold Cup to raise funds for conservation. With his brothers, Emil and Tommy, the family business developed the first offshore sportfishing boat equipped with a tower, outriggers, fighting chair, transom door and big engines.  This year’s recipient: JOHN BROWNLEE is a former TBF board member having served as

Tag & Release Competition Update

Listed below are the top 5 captains and anglers in each category for The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Competition as of September 10, 2021. This is the final rankings update before the competition ends. If a category is missing, it’s because there haven’t been enough fish to qualify. The competition runs through October 31, 2021 and all entries must be in by November 15, 2021. Please remember that you are only eligible to receive an award if you are an active member of The Billfish Foundation. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. To purchase

One More Federal Dismissal of Billfish

Traditional tagging of billfish for science produce very valuable data, especially with TBF’s and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) tagging databases spanning decades. In turn, the data helps support some management strategies that can help recreational fishing.  The large databases reflect the contributions over decades of anglers, captains and crews, who deployed tags and reported their release data and data for a recaptured tagged billfish. A majority of what is known about billfish stems from the traditional tagging data resources. So supporting the billfish tagging program should be a priority for NMFS, NOT SO. The NMFS

TBF Attends ICAST 2021

For the first time in over a year, the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) was held in Orlando, FL. This trade show brought the fishing community together and allowed everyone to see new products and meet with representatives from over hundreds of fishing related companies. Thousands of attendees from were present at the international trade show and this marked one of the first large trade shows held at the Orlando Convention Center since the pandemic began in 2020. The latest edition of the show highlighted some of the current products and technology as well as introducing new

Atlantic Bluefin Quota Transfer and Seasonal Closure

As of 11:30pm on August 4th, 2021, fishing via the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category is closed. NOAA Fisheries announced the closure because the 277.9 mt subquota for June through August has been reached. The fishery will reopen on September 1st, 2021. Once reopened, fishermen with the correct permits may retain one fish per vessel per day. The closure affects: NOAA Fisheries is transferring 30mt of bluefin tuna from the Reserve Category to the Harpoon Category. The transfer increases the Harpoon quota to 78mt and leaves 138mt in Reserve. The transfer is in effect through November 15th, 2021 (or

Where Has TBF Been In 2021?

With travel opening up, the TBF Team hit the road (or, more accurately, the water) to promote conservation. It’s our goal to be everywhere the action happens, representing billfish conservation and advocating for the recreational fishing community. Here’s where we’ve been so far this year!

With all of our travel, plus our work in advocating for responsible fisheries management, managing our Tag & Release Program, creating youth education materials, and more, 2021 is shaping up to be an exciting year for TBF! Make sure you get involved by becoming

Is the US West Coast Going From Drift Gill Nets to Longlines?!?

This month the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) accepted applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFP) for which decisions will be made in September for the following fishing year. One application proposes to transition the current swordfish drift gillnet fishery to a longline fishery by allowing 19 longline vessels, shallow-set and deep-set longlines, to fish between 12 to 200 miles in federal waters off the U.S. West Coast, which TBF does not endorse this gear. Nine other permit applications were submitted, including Deep-Set Buoy Gear, Linked Buoy Gear, Night Set Buoy Gear including fishing in state waters, and Mid-Water

Reallocation of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna for Angling Category

The current proposed Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan may reallocate the U.S. Atlantic quota share of Bluefin Tuna among Fishing Categories (Angling, Longline, General, Purse Seine, Trap, Reserve). The Purse Seine category is being abolished and its tonnage reallocated since those vessels have landed any bluefin since 2015, due to regulatory size restraints, but their tonnage was leased to Longline Category vessels. The redistribution will result in slight increases in the Angling Category now spread over 4 sub-allocation areas instead of 3 with the division of the Northern area into two areas