Reminder: Renew Your Fishery Permits Following Hurricane Season
The Southeast Permits Office of NOAA Fisheries is reminding permit holders that all limited access permits must be renewed by the termination date printed on the front of the permit. The region was impacted by a number of hurricanes this year, impacting many with loss of property including fishing vessels. The Office advises that if your permitted vessel was lost, you can transfer the permit to another vessel, or even a U.S. Coast Guard or state registered raft or dinghy to keep the permit viable. Call the southeast Permits Office toll free at (877) 376-4877 to ask about transfer provisions
Charter/Headboat Vessels Will Need Endorsement For Catch Sales in 2018
Beginning January 5, 2018, NOAA Fisheries will require vessels with Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permits to also obtain a “commercial sale” endorsement in order to sell any catch of HMS. The new permit is obtainable for free when renewing or obtaining a 2018 HMS Charter/Headboat permit. This change creates a provision for the commercial sale of Atlantic HMS by HMS Charter/Headboat permit holders. Such permit holders are currently able to sell Atlantic tunas and swordfish, and can also sell Atlantic sharks if they hold a Federal commercial shark permit. Because of this, vessels with the HMS Charter/Headboat permit
General Bluefin Tuna Fishery Closes Despite Quota Transfer
The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided to close the General category fishery for large, medium, and giant Atlantic bluefin tuna for the rest of the year. The closure takes effect 11:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday Dec. 6, 2017 and remains in place through Dec. 31, 2017. The quota for this particular fishery has been adjusted by NMFS three times during 2017 with quota transfers from other fisheries. Most recently, 25.6 mt were transferred from the Harpoon category to the General category Dec. 1, 2017, resulting in a greater quota. NMFS, however, has determined that the category’s quota has been reached
General Fishery For Atlantic Bluefin Reopens Thanks To Quota Transfer
The Atlantic bluefin tuna General fishery will reopen December 1 for the first time since early October, thanks to a transfer of quota. NOAA Fisheries is transferring 25.6 mt from the Harpoon category to the General category, part of which will fill in for overharvests made in the September, October, and November subquota. The unused portion, however, results in 12.7 mt for the General category’s December subquota period, thereby providing fishermen with a chance to participate in the December fishery and harvest the U.S.’s remaining quota. The Harpoon category closed for the year as of November 15. The
2017 ICCAT Commission Meeting Concludes With Quota Shifts
More than 700 delegates from 47 member nations met in Marrakesh last week for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to discuss management strategies for several valuable species. The United States is one of many countries party to the commission, an inter-governmental organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and other migratory fish in the Atlantic Ocean. This year, tunas, swordfish, and sharks were on the agenda as scientists brought recommendations based on research findings. The catch limit for western Atlantic bluefin tuna was increased to 2,350 metric tons (mt), resulting in a 17% quota
Angels & Devils – TBF’s 2017 Fundraising Gala
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Sailfish, Ceviche, and Tag Cards At Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala
It was during the slow, hot days of a south Florida summer that The Billfish Foundation and Waterlust hatched a plan to boost each of their marine conservation efforts. The two groups have worked together in the past, creating a short film called “Moneyfi$h” that demonstrated the billfish conservation work to which TBF is dedicated. This time, the project focused on media: Waterlust has a new product design in the making, and needed high quality images of the various colors and patterns exhibited by sailfish, while TBF needed photo and video content of all kinds to help spread their
Atlantic Billfish & Swordfish 2017 Landings Update
NOAA Fisheries recently released an updated estimate of recreational billfish landings in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as commercial and recreational landings of swordfish, thus far in 2017. From January 1 through September 30, 2017, NMFS reports landings of Atlantic blue and white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and western Atlantic sailfish in number of fish. The table below identifies how many of each have been caught so far this year. This landings information is compiled from a number of sources: self-reports in the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database, tournament landings from the
FAD Project Takes Next Step At GCFI Conference
Team members from The Billfish Foundation joined in the Gulf & Caribbean Fisheries Institute conference held in Merida, Mexico last week. It was the 70th anniversary of the conference, where scientists, managers, and fishers all come together to share information, new technologies, and collaborate on solutions. Both of TBF’s summer 2017 interns were accepted to present their projects at the conference: one a poster and the other an oral presentation. The poster’s topic was a study of consumer attitudes toward seafood and purchasing behavior. Do people really care where their fish comes from? The short answer is yes, the
Results From ‘Grander’ Marlin Sample Available Years After Landing
We now know a little bit more about the massive marlin that was caught off Hawaii nearly a decade ago. On September 1, 2009, three anglers landed a blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) 21 miles south of Honolulu: the fish measured 12.2 feet long and weighed 1,245 pounds. At over 1000 lbs, the blue marlin is also known as a “grander” marlin. Fish of this size are difficult to study because they are difficult to land in the first place. The captain, crew, fisherman and locals acted quickly to take size measurements and save the head in order to provide
