Atlantic Marlin Fishing Now All Catch & Release Though Year’s End Because 250 Landing Cap Exceeded

All Three Species (Atlantic Blue Marlin, White Marlin and Roundscale Spearfish) Must be Released by US Flagged Boats For The Remainder of 2020. Starting on September 30, 2020, through December 31, 2020, NOAA Fisheries is requiring catch-and-release fishing only for Atlantic blue marlin, white marlin, and roundscale spearfish in all areas of the Atlantic Ocean. […]

TBF’s Top Taggers of the Decade

The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Program is the cornerstone of our conservation and advocacy. We are proud to maintain the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. Billfish tagging, and the recaptures that occur as a result, provides valuable scientific data to help us understand more about billfish life history, habitat utilization, migrations, and more. It is also used in stock assessments and to bolster global advocacy efforts for the conservation of these fish. Without tag and release, much of what we know about billfish today would still be a mystery

The Billfish Foundation’s 2020 Virtual Gala

Despite COVID-19 and resulting challenges for The Billfish Foundation (TBF), board members and staff invite you to join and support our 2020 VIRTUAL Gala, guaranteed to be casual as you view, bid and donate from the comfort of your home! Think of the money you will have saved by not attending in person, which you can now spend on Silent Auction items or give a tax-deductible donation to help TBF during these unprecedented times. We hope you understand our dilemma and will help. Next year we will party hard at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort, but first we must

Atlantic Billfish, Swordfish, and Tunas Landings Update

NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Atlantic swordfish, billfish, and tunas, which includes recreational billfish and bluefin tuna landings from January 1st through June 30, 2020. But swordfish and non-bluefin tuna landings are for the period of January 1 through July 31, 2020. In general, reported landings are down compared to the same time in 2019, except for Northern Albacore, whose landings are skyrocketing compared to 2019. Swordfish landings are almost exactly the same as last year, with an uptick in commercial bycatch offset by decreases in commercial and recreational targeted landings. Billfish are currently on par to stay

TBF Swordfish Data Represented at ICCAT Meeting

Through its 30-year old tagging program, supported by 190,000 voluntary angler-reported tag reports from around the world, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) assists scientists in gaining a better understanding of billfish’s life history characteristics, including growth, reproduction, yearly movement and survival.  Rare is it to receive tagging data from the Mediterranean Sea, but recent tagging by captsins Rudy and Samuel Urbain provided such a surprise. In March, Drs. Folio Garibaldi and George Stirpes presented swordfish tagging data at a meeting of the Swordfish Species Group, within the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) to help gain a better

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 August 3, 2020. If a category is missing, it’s because there haven’t been enough fish to qualify. The competition runs through October 31, 2020 and all entries must be in by November 15. 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]. Blue Marlin Sailfish Spearfish Swordfish White Marlin Black Marlin Blue Marlin

2020 Billfish Recaptures Update

The most important data received through TBF’s Tag & Release Program is recapture data. A recapture occurs when a tagged billfish is caught by a second angler subsequent to the tagging and release of a fish. Recapture data contributes toward gaining a better understanding of the species age and growth rates by comparing the reported estimated weight at the time of tagging with the estimated weight upon recapture with consideration given to the amount of time between the two events.  Recapture data also contributes to understanding a species possible site or area fidelity, if tagged and recaptured in the

TBF SUBMITS COMMENTS FOR AMENDMENT 7 FOR BLUEFIN TUNA MANAGEMENT

On January 10,The Billfish Foundation (TBF) submitted official comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for Draft Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for bluefin tuna. Within the comments TBF strongly opposed the proposed conditional access to the current pelagic longline closed zones, supported the creation of a Gulf of Mexico Gear Restricted Area (GRA), and advocated for a separate Trophy allocation for Gulf of Mexico anglers. Additionally, TBF questioned the feasibility of an Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) for longline vessels and opposed the reallocation of Angling quota to the Longline category

Summer Tournament Update

The Billfish Foundation is a proud beneficiary of tournaments that support billfish conservation either by limiting billfish catches to all release, setting size limits to minimize the number of billfish landed, or using landed billfish for research, or by donating a portion of their proceeds to TBF for support of research, education, and advocacy. July 4, 2020 All Ports July 15 – 18, 2020 Port Aransas, Texas July 21 – 26, 2020 Port O’Connor, Texas July 23 – 25, 2020 New Orleans, Louisiana July 28 – August 1, 2020 Freeport, Texas August 8-9, 2020 Marina Flamingo, Costa Rica

Non-Longline Fisheries Should Be Allocated More Swordfish

All non-longline swordfish fisheries are required to use handgear – handline, harpoon, commercial rod and reel, green-stick and bandit gear. Handgear takes far less bycatch than does pelagic longline gear, much of the time it takes none making the fisheries cleaner and sustainable. Increasing landing limits to these fisheries makes sense, whereas allowing pelagic longlines back into the Closed Zones to fish for swordfish does not. Increasing swordfish retention limits to handgear fisheries was the focus of a NOAA phone meeting that The Billfish Foundation (TBF) staff members recently joined. The government’s first presented Preferred Alternative is for vessels