New Daily Limit to Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category

NOAA Fisheries is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) daily retention limits that apply to vessels permitted in the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling category and the HMS Charter/Headboat category (when fishing recreationally for BFT). The adjustments below are effective May 11, 2019, through December 31, 2019. These daily retention limits apply to vessels permitted in the recreational HMS Angling category and the HMS Charter/Headboat category while fishing recreationally. The daily retention limits are effective for all areas EXCEPT FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO, which is designated as BFT spawning grounds and where NOAA Fisheries does not allow targeted

Gov’t Lessens Billfish Research Funding

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southeast Fishery Science Center, is further diminishes support for billfish research, now by not facilitating funding of a respected billfish scientist! This is a worsening of the government’s longstanding low priority given to billfish, whereas the highest priorities go to the “commercially targeted fish destined for the consumer market,” mainly bluefin and bigeye tunas. While those fish are important, the amount of information we know about billfish is still sparse even though the socio-economic impact of these family of fish are extremely valuable. This makes your contributions to TBF even more important

Clean Water Essential for Outdoor Recreation

EPA & Corp Proposal to Repeal Clean Water Rule – Anglers & Hunters Oppose The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Corps of Engineers (Civil Works) desire to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” by repealing the 2015 Clean Water Rule (the Rule). The Rule provides federal protection for “60% of streams and 20 million acres of wetlands, including downstream waters” that could be destroyed if the proposed action is implemented. At stake are spawning grounds and nursery habitat for juvenile fish, habitat for breeding ducks, geese and other

Action Alert – Push for Passage of the Forage Fish Conservation Act

Saltwater ecosystem dynamics include not just the marine habitat, but also the creatures, overfishing, predator/prey interaction, pollution, temperature changes, etc.  Yet the primary fishery management law of the U.S., the Magnuson-Stevens Act, does not include provisions for managing prey or forage fish that provide an important food source for larger fish, marine mammals and birds.  If the Forage Fish Conservation Act (FFCA), a bipartisan bill, introduced on April 10, 2019, becomes law, monitoring and assessments will be required of predator needs, impacts of increased removal of forage fish on other species, established fisheries and fishing communities before any new

Everglades Reservoir Bill

TBF joined many other recreational fishing organizations in calling on House Subcommittee on Energy and Water to approve $210 million dollars for the Army Corps of Engineers in support of South Florida Ecosystem Restoration projects in 2020.  The projects are part of the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee watershed restoration. The Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir project is supported by both the State of Florida (Water Resources Law of 2017) and the federal Army Corps (America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/cerp-project-planning/eaa-reservoir ). Once the reservoir is complete, water can flow from Lake Okeechobee to the reservoir, once treated, then south

TBF’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

The Paxson H. Offield Lifetime Science Achievement Award The award is named in honor of a former TBF board member, who believed passionately in the value of science to support responsible conservation and management. Offield’s support of billfish science guaranteed TBF’s billfish advocacy remained firmly grounded in science, as it remains today.  Offield was the first among TBF trustees to deploy satellite tags with collected data now being incorporated into stock assessments. This year’s recipient is Dr. Fredy Arocha, a professor at the Instituto Oceanografic de Venezuela, University of Oriente, Venezuela, who has invested over three decades to advancing

2018 Recreational Atlantic Billfish Landings Updates

The table below provides the total number of billfish (January 1, 2018, through, December 31, 2018) landings in numbers of fish for Atlantic blue and white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and western Atlantic sailfish.  We can see as stated in a previous post, that the recreational community was below not only the 250 quota but almost on par with the 2017 numbers. Landings are compiled using self-reported angler reports from the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database; tournament landings from the Atlantic Tournament Registration & Reporting (ATR) system; catch card

Angling Category Trophy Bluefin Tuna Fishery for Southern Area Closed

NOAA Fisheries determined that the Angling category southern area “trophy” bluefin tuna (measuring 73 inches or greater) subquota of 1.8 mt had been reached and exceeded and therefore closure of the southern area trophy bluefin tuna is warranted. The southern area is the area south of 39°18’N lat. (off Great Egg Inlet, NJ), outside the Gulf of Mexico. This closure was in effect as of 11:30 p.m., March 14, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Persons aboard vessels permitted in the Atlantic HMS Angling and Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat categories fishing recreationally in the southern area (defined

FADS FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO APPROVED

The Proposed Okaloosa County (north central Gulf of Mexico) recreational fishing Buoy/Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) System was approved as a means to improve catches of billfish and other species. The stated hope of county officials is to transform the region from targeting reef fish (especially red snapper) to targeting pelagic fish, including billfish. The eight surface buoys, with no trailing lines, floats or attached streamers, will be placed inside DeSoto Canyon in water of 1,191 to 2,359 feet in depth. While many prefer FAD fishing for it saves time, fuel and usually places their boats where fish

Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Allocation Update

The Billfish Foundation recently submitted comments again to The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council regarding the future management of a dolphin (mahi mahi) and wahoo fishery. The Amendment looks to modify the management strategy for mahi-mahi that would better ensure healthy population levels into the future. Central to protecting mahi-mahi is a restriction of pelagic longline gear by not authorizing the fishery an allocation. While these fish are known to reproduce and grow quickly, it takes only a few pelagic longline vessels to fish down a species. Whereas far less of an impact is made by individual