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

NOAA Increases Shark Retention Limits in the Gulf of Mexico

NOAA Fisheries increased the retention limits of large sharks in the Gulf of Mexico through the end of 2021. As of August 24th, fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico who operate under Shark Directed Limit Access Permits may retain up to 55 large coastal sharks per vessel per trip. Large coastal sharks (LCS) do not include sandbar sharks, but do include hammerhead and blacktips. This change increases retention from the previous limit of 45 LCS by an additional 10 per vessel per trip. In the Eastern Gulf of Mexico sub-region, this increase applies to sharks within the LCS, hammerhead

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

2020 Conservation Record: Blue Marlin

The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with 260,000 records by 150,000 anglers. In 2020 alone, TBF anglers and captains tagged, released, or recaptured 7,000 billfish and tuna across the world. Of these 7,000 new records, 1,263 were of blue marlin. Like with sailfish, there is some debate on the difference between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific blue marlin. Makaira nigricans refers to Atlantic blue marlin, while Makaira mazara are Indo-Pacific. Blue marlin can measure up to 2,000lbs and 12ft long. Like other species of billfish, the Indo-Pacific blue marlin tend to be larger

NMFS Designates Bullet and Frigate Mackerel as Ecosystem Component Species

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approved Amendment 12 to the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which adds bullet and frigate mackerel as ecosystem component (EC) species. EC species do not warrant current management on their own, but the designation helps achieve FMP objectives by increasing awareness of their importance to pelagic predators. Bullet and frigate mackerel are important prey species for pelagic dolphin and wahoo, with mackerel being wahoo’s dominant forage species. Mackerel are also important components of tuna and marlin diets.  More Amendment 12 information is available on the Federal Registrar website.  The

The Billfish Foundation Joins Center for Sportfishing Policy

The Billfish Foundation is proud to join the Center for Sportfishing Policy (CSP) as a Sustaining Partner. CSP works to maximize opportunities for saltwater anglers and advocate for the conservation of marine resources. They do this by mobilizing fisheries stakeholders to affect real political change for the good of anglers and fisheries everywhere. At TBF, our mission is to conserve billfish and advocate for the recreational fishing community. As a result, it made perfect sense to align with CSP in order to maximize our positive impact for conservation. In the words of CSP President, Jeff Angers, “The Billfish