BIG GAME ROOM CELEBRATES 10 YEARS WITH CAROLINA SKIFF AND THE BILLFISH FOUNDATION

Miami, FL – The Big Game Room, the place to explore the latest that sport fishing has to offer is celebrating this year. Ten years ago, the producers of the Miami International Boat Show (NMMA) were approached by a group of tournament organizers and big game fishing enthusiasts to create a one stop expo for everything big game fishing related within the confines of the Miami International Boat Show. From these humble beginnings, the Big Game Room has grown and we are thrilled to be celebrating 10 years in 2013. The Billfish Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, that works

BILLFISH ART EXHIBIT

What do you get with you combine creative high school students, The Billfish Foundation (TBF), and blank mounts from King Sailfish Mounts? After a several weeks, you get beautifully unique art pieces. On December 5, 2012, TBF was honored to take part in an exhibit that displayed all these pieces at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. Over 100 people came to the opening night of the art exhibit named, “ART & THE BILLFISH.” It displayed a number of unique billfish-related art pieces by members from the National Art Honor Society & Photography Club. The evening also consisted

TBF SUBMITS LETTER TO NMFS OPPOSING EXEMPTED FISHING PERMITS

On December 18th 2012, The Billfish Foundation submitted a letter on behalf of its members regarding the potential issuance of Exempted Fishing Permits (EMPs) that would allow longline vessels to fish in two closed zones – the Charleston Bump and the East Florida Coast. Established in 2001 as means to reduce bycatch of billfish and discards of undersized swordfish, these spatial closures have been an instrumental part in strengthening the sport fishery along the eastern coast of the United States. Both anecdotal evidence from anglers and captains as well as stock assessments in recent years have shown that billfish

TEACH A KID TO TAG, MAKE A MEMORY FOREVER

Lighthouse Point,FL – Do you remember the first billfish you hooked into? The amazementyou felt when you watched it jump and dart through the water? The burningfeeling in your arms as you cranked in the last bit of mainline, but you hadtoo much pride to dare complain about how tired you were as you watched yourfirst billfish swim away from the boat with a bright orange tag in it’s back.Remember that excitement? Imagine taking a day off from high school classes tocatch your first sailfish—what could be much better? TBF’s Andrew Cox teaches a student the proper way

TBF ANNOUNCES THE 2012 TAG AND RELEASE AWARD WINNERS

The Billfish Foundation is proud to announce the Award Winners for the 2012 Tag and Release Competition. This year TBF received nearly 7,000 tag and release reports from all over the world through both the traditional card system and TBF’s Tag and Release Online Database. Many new names have emerged in this year’s competition and we are excited to see the continued support from winners of previous tag and release awards. This year the Award Ceremony is sponsored by Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournaments with the awards presented by King Sailfish Mounts and Costa Sunglasses. The ceremony will take

BLUEWATER ISSUE 94 – INTRODUCE SOMEONE NEW TO FISHING

We all fish for different reasons. Whatever the motivation we build a collection of individual fishing accomplishments. Through this lifelong journey you will always remember who taught you to fish and your enjoyment the first time you felt a tug on the other end of your line. This created the first page of your ‘Book of Angling Firsts’. With each accomplishment you add or a new page or chapter, something you can look back upon with joy. However, in my opinion, giving someone the opportunity to catch their own ‘first’ is something that will give you a new sort

TBF AND WATERLUST RELEASE ‘MONEYFI$H’

Ever wonder how scientists and The Billfish Foundation (TBF) learn more about billfish? Well, The Billfish Foundation is proud to release a short movie called ‘Moneyfi$h’, a Waterlust film on just that very thing. Learn how the sportfishing world contributes to science and conservation. https://youtu.be/SD_w9ZQyWb8 TBF would like to thank to everyone involved in this

SUPPORT THE ARTS AND BILLFISH CONSERVATION

A special exhibit, “ART & THE BILLFISH,” done by the by members from the National Art Honor Society & Photography Club, many of whom are Marine Magnet students, all from South Broward High School will be at Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. This exhibition, supported by The Billfish Foundation, will be displayed for the entire month of December and the opening reception is free to the public and will take place on Wednesday, Decemeber 5,2012 from 3-5 pm. Students have created nearly 40 works of art that express their knowledge of billfish and preservation efforts as well as

ICCAT COMMISSION MEETING NOV. 12-19 RECAP

Over the past week, TBF’s President and the U.S. Recreational commissioner for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), Ellen Peel, attended and took part in vigorous negotiations during a ICCAT meeting in Morocco and reported the back on the following: Billfish While last week ended with the possibility that all existing conservation measures for Atlantic blue and white marlin might expire, hard negotiations over the weekend resulted in the adoption of new strengthened measures. The Commission adopted hard quotas consistent with the scientific advice for all nations landing marlin with reductions from recent average catches

TBF AND WECAFC HOSTS WORKSHOP ON CARIBBEAN SOCIO-ECONOMICS

Santa Marta, Colombia – On November 4, 2012 The Billfish Foundation (TBF) and the Secretariat of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) collaborated to put on an ‘Expert Workshop on the Assessment of Socio-Economic Impacts of Recreational Fishing – the Caribbean, a Beginning’ in conjunction with the 65th annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) held from November 5-9, 2012. The expert workshop was attended by 29 experts from countries and territories including Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Belize, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago