NOAA Announces $82 million in Funding for North Atlantic Right Whales

NOAA recently earmarked a $82 million fund dedicated to the conservation and recovery of the North Atlantic right whales. With this announcement, we again want to champion an innovative idea.  NOAA’s antiquated approach (and proposed measure) of imposing ineffective, widespread speed restrictions across vast regions hasn’t worked. Such measures not only lack high compliance rates […]

TBF’s 2023 Annual Fundraising Gala

Time is running out! Don’t miss out on this year’s Gatsby, Glitz, and Glamour theme for The Billfish Foundation’s Annual Fundraiser Gala, taking place on Friday, October 27, 2023, at the Harbor Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale, FL! Join TBF as we celebrate 37 years of dedicated billfish conservation while recognizing the invaluable contributions of […]

TBF Welcomes New Employee, Addie Spain

My name is Addie Spain and I am thrilled to be continuing my time with The Billfish Foundation. I recently graduated from the University of Miami with majors in Marine Affairs and Classical History and a minor in Corporate Sustainability.

Proposed Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for Endangered Rice’s Whales

NOAA announced a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) even though a decision on the vessel speed in the Gulf of Mexico has not been finalized. The proposed critical habitat designation and the Rice’s whale vessel speed petition are unrelated actions. Critical habitat is designated under the ESA, and the requirement to designate critical habitat for the Rice’s whale was triggered by its 2019 listing as an endangered species. The proposed critical habitat includes Gulf of Mexico waters between 100 and 400 meters depth and this critical habitat would guide federal agencies

US BOEM to seek fisheries funds for Gulf of Mexico wind leases

The first offshore wind power lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico will offer a 10 percent credit to developers who contribute to a fisheries compensation fund for commercial and charter fishermen. The August 2023 auction by the BOEM will offer a 102,480-acre area offshore Lake Charles, LA and two areas off Galveston, TX, one comprising 102,480 acres and the other 96,786 acres. If developed to full potential, the lease areas could hold turbine arrays with nameplate ratings totaling 3.7 gigawatts of electricity. In planning the Gulf wind energy areas, BOEM excluded highly productive fishing areas after consultations

Update on Speed Restricted Zones

Speed Reduction Zones – TBF opposes the two recently issued proposals by NMFS and NOAA to apply extreme vessel speed reductions (10.5 mph) along the East Coast to all vessels 35 feet and longer when transiting Slowdown Zones. The goal of the first proposal aims to reduce vessel strikes of whales, yet documentation of whale strikes by vessels of 35 to 64 feet was not even included in the proposal. The Northern Right Whale has been listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1970, yet populations continue to decline. Failure by large container vessels (25% compliance) to comply

Steve C. Levi Memorial Trophy Youth Conservation Award

The Billfish Foundation & Gulf Coast Yacht Group present a new Award for Gulf of Mexico Youth Anglers – the Steve C. Levi Memorial Trophy Youth Conservation Award Following the untimely and tragic death of Steve C. Levi, his daughters, Kristen Dzwonkowski and Chelsea Scruggs donated to The Billfish Foundation (TBF) a gorgeous bronze marlin sculpture of their father’s. It was decided to have the sculpture honoring Steve to become a perpetual trophy, the Steve C. Levi Memorial Trophy, for a youth competition in the Gulf of Mexico. The trophy will continue to be housed in the

Welcome Aboard our Newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean Intern – Racine Prinzo

We would like to introduce our newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean intern, Racine Prinzo! Racine is a passionate ocean enthusiast and dedicated intern at TBF. She is a South Florida native who enjoys spending her free time out on the boat with family and friends. Racine graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and is currently a graduate student at the University of Miami pursuing a master’s degree in marine biology and ecology.  With a focus on marine conservation, she is currently conducting research on the effectiveness of speed restriction zones for whales

Draft Amendment 15 Looks to Open Closed Zones

After 23 years of defending the Closed Zones off the U.S. East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) just shared its options in Amendment 15 to open the Zones again to pelagic longline fishing. It was pelagic longline fishing that brought about the Closed Zones for at the time the U.S. vessels were killing the largest quantity of juvenile swordfish among all nations fishing for the Atlantic species. If the swordfish nursery areas are in open zones, stock declines will likely follow, as will anglers’ hook-up rates for billfish, tunas, swordfish

Costa’s Marlin-Fly Project

For years, we have all heard about the amazing fishery and waters in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. From the hookups of doubles, triples, and quads of striped marlin with daily releases in the triple digits, it is not surprising that a number of our tag and release winners utilize this incredible location to secure some of our top annual awards. While the fishery as a whole may be renowned by offshore anglers, our current knowledge about the striped marlin fishery in particular is merely surface level. As always, our goal is to conserve, educate, and promote sustainable fishing in locations