CURRENT TAG & RELEASE STANDINGS – 9/25/14
Every year, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) recognizes the captains, mates and anglers (including youth and ladies) who tag and release the most billfish in each of the world’s oceans. The competition is categorized by billfish species, ocean, and whether the fish were tagged or released untagged. Award winners are recognized at TBF’s Annual Tag & Release Awards Ceremony held during the Miami International Boat Show presented by the TBF Tag and Release Sponsors: Bisbee’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fund, Casa Vieja Lodge, Costa Sunglasses, Pelagic, and SIMRAD. Please remember the deadline for TBF to receive your tag and release
HOT OFF THE PRESS – 2014 INTERNATIONAL BILLFISH CONSERVATION RECORD
The Billfish Foundation’s 2014 International Billfish Conservation Record is now available for purchase on TBF’s Online Shopping Cart. This publication is dedicated to the late Dr. Russell Nelson, a nationally acclaimed scientist, who served as The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) Chief Scientist for 12 years. The Conservation Record includes the 2013 Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, the 2013 TBF Tag & Release Program participants, summary of all tag, release & recapture data submitted and collected for 2013, map of top locations by species, and much more! TBF thanks our Tagging Program sponsors, Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund
UPDATED STANDINGS FOR ANNUAL TAG AND RELEASE COMPETITION ANNOUNCED
Every year, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) recognizes the captains, mates and anglers (including youth and ladies) who tag and release the most billfish in each of the world’s oceans. The competition is categorized by billfish species, ocean, and whether the fish were tagged or released untagged. Award winners are recognized at TBF’s Annual Tag & Release Awards Ceremony held during the Miami International Boat Show presented by the TBF Tag and Release Sponsors, Bisbee’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fund, Casa Vieja Lodge, Costa Sunglasses, Pelagic, and SIMRAD. The standings below reflect Tag and Release Cards entered into the
SIMRAD JOINS TBF AS TAG AND RELEASE PROGRAM SPONSOR FOR 2014
TBF is proud to announce Simrad, world-leader in the design and manufacturer of marine electronics, has joined The Billfish Foundation as a 2014 Tag and Release Program sponsor. Simrad Yachting’s partnership will help TBF advance our cornerstone billfish tagging program to further billfish conservation worldwide. “As a global leader in the engineering and development of sport fishing technology, Simrad Yachting is committed to protecting our worldwide fisheries,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO of Navico. “We are proud to support the Billfish Foundation. The work and information they provide is vital to ensuring these important fish stocks are sustainable into the
A RECAPTURE TO REMEMBER
Whether a novice or tournament pro, every angler out there should consider themselves very fortunate to have the opportunity to tag and release a billfish. Just seeing a marlin or sailfish is an amazing experience, but perhaps even more spectacular than seeing one from the topside of a boat is jumping in the water and witnessing the grace and beauty of a billfish close up. In June of 2013, Kasey Swan was lucky enough to not only tag and release a white marlin, but for this fish to later be recaptured. What made this recapture even more extraordinary is
TBF AT CASA VIEJA LODGE
If you ask any serious offshore angler where the best billfish action in the world is, chances are Casa Vieja Lodge (CVL) and Guatemala are one of the first answers you’ll hear. With captains releasing literally thousands of billfish in a single season, fishing in Guatemala is the experience of a lifetime for anglers. Fortunately for TBF, CVL has shown their commitment to billfish conservation by coming on as a Tag & Release sponsor and reporting all of their billfish data to us. However, their support goes far beyond that. Ron Kawaja of Pelagic and Tony Ludovico stand
YOUTH MEMBERS RAISE FUNDS FOR TBF
Three of our youngest members from Massachusetts recently stopped by our offices to drop off a donation to The Billfish Foundation (TBF) that they procured earlier this year. Miles Buddenhagen, 8 years old, and his brothers Evan, 10 years old and Kolby, 5 years old, tabled a booth at their school’s sustainability fair. During the fair, they spoke to people about the importance of catch and release and asked for donations to TBF and billfish conservation. They obviously did a phenomenal job, by presenting a $1000 donation to us this week! Their love of fishing and fish conservation began
2014 TAG AND RELEASE CEREMONY RECAP
On February 13, 2014 The Billfish Foundation honored conservation achievements at the 2014 Tag and Release Ceremony held at Miami’s Jungle Island Treetop Ballroom in front of a crowd of more than 200 individuals. The 24th annual Tag and Release Ceremony was sponsored by Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund and the awards were presented by King Sailfish Mounts.  TBF would also like to thank all of our Tag and Release Program Sponsors (Casa Vieja Lodge, Costa Sunglasses, and Pelagic Gear) for sponsoring TBF’s cornerstone program for billfish conservation. The incredible ceremony would not be possible without the support of Deceiver Charters for sponsoring the open bar
WELCOME CASA VIEJA LODGE AS A TAG & RELEASE PROGRAM SPONSOR!
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is proud to announce that Casa Vieja Lodge is TBF’s newest Tag and Release Program partner. They join King Sailfish Mounts, Pelagic Gear, and Bisbee’s Black and Blue, and Costa Sunglasses as sponsors of TBF’s cornerstone conservation program. Established in 1990, The Billfish Foundation’s Tag and Release Program is the largest private billfish tagging database in the world, and is the cornerstone of TBF’s conservation and advocacy efforts. David and Kristen Salazar, the new owners of Casa Vieja Lodge, one of the world’s premier saltwater sports fishing destinations, are pleased to announce an expanded relationship
TBF SUBMITS COMMENTS FOR AMENDMENT 7 FOR BLUEFIN TUNA MANAGEMENT
On January 10,The Billfish Foundation (TBF) submitted official comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for Draft Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for bluefin tuna. Within the comments TBF strongly opposed the proposed conditional access to the current pelagic longline closed zones, supported the creation of a Gulf of Mexico Gear Restricted Area (GRA), and advocated for a separate Trophy allocation for Gulf of Mexico anglers. Additionally, TBF questioned the feasibility of an Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) for longline vessels and opposed the reallocation of Angling quota to the Longline category
