TBF’s Letter to Nova Southeastern University

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

THE QUEST FOR MEDITERRANEAN SWORDFISH OFF FRANCE

In a small coastal town on the French Riviera, fishing is now part of history, romanticized by the thousands of international holiday seekers making new use of the beaches and docks that once served fishermen. Today, yachts far outnumber fishing boats in Saint-Tropez, which became popular with tourists in the 1960s and remains known as a trendy destination. But there is at least one man still bringing beasts up from the depths off southeastern France. Samuel Urbain is not a commercial fisherman, nor does he keep much of what he catches. Urbain goes fishing for the joy of it

Did You Know?

Welcome to our Did You Know blog! Billfish and related species, like tuna and swordfish, are amazing creatures and set themselves apart from other fish. The Billfish Foundation would like to share some of the most interesting facts and stories involving these fish. What are some of the things that surprised you about these magnificent animals? #didyouknow Did you know that traditional tagging is not the only kind of tagging that TBF does? If you have followed us for a while, you may have heard us talk about satellite tagging, but what exactly is it, and how is it

THE CARIBBEAN BILLFISH PROJECT – GOOD FISHERIES MANAGEMENT?

The Caribbean Billfish Project,  a $1.95 million exercise supported by the UN and the World Bank, and executed by the Western Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission (WECAFC) in Barbados, proposes a ” rights-based” billfish management strategy for commercial, recreational and coastal fishers. “Rights-based” strategies limit fishing access and allocations through a variety of tools, including licenses, marine reserves, fishery-wide quotas based on catches not landings, stakeholder group administration, cooperatives and payment of fees (rents), etc. One published paper from the Project  provides “enough value exists in the recreational fisheries sector to compensate losses in the commercial fisheries sector.” This transfer

Black Marlin Study Needs Assistance off Central America in Pacific Waters

Sam Williams from the University of Queensland is collaborating with Dr Julian Pepperell in mapping the global genetics of black marlin. We greatly appreciate your assistance in collecting tissue for this research; a brief methodology has been described for sampling below.What we need: only require a small piece of fin or muscle tissue.  The tissue one has to be about the size of a finger nail (~2cm2).  If you can collect the tissue from either the end of the pectoral fin or middle of the caudal fin that is preferred as it does not affect the fish

Billfish Conservation Record Now Available – Analyzing 2014 data

The Billfish Foundation’s newest International Billfish Conservation Record is now available digitally! The Conservation Record includes the 2014 Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, summary of all tag, release & recapture data submitted for 2014, a breakdown of the species reported, maps of top tagging locations by species, and much more! TBF thanks our Tagging Program sponsors in 2014, Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund, Casa Vieja Lodge, Costa, King Sailfish Mounts, SIMRAD & Pelagic Gear, for their support in making this record possible. View the entire record by selecting the link from the image below

Billfish Conservation Record – Analyzing 2013 Data

The Billfish Foundation is pleased to make available our annual Conservation Record, noting 2013 Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients, 2013 Tag & Release Competition winners, and data analysis from this year’s records. View the full report by selecting the link on the image below

BILLFISH GENETIC SAMPLING WITH VIMS

Photo Courtesy of Brant Wise Despite the popularity with anglers worldwide and the research investments made by The Billfish Foundation since 1986, still a lot of biological information is not known about marlin, sailfish, and spearfish, making their management and conservation challenging. Billfish tagged by anglers and scientists has revealed a lot about the fishes’ movements and growth rates, but documenting the number of populations of each billfish species that exists in each ocean is unknown. A population is “… a group of fish of the same species that are alive in a defined area at a given time” (Wooten 1990)

Predicting Atlantic Blue Marlin Distribution

TBF’s Dr. Phil Goodyear, is currently advancing research to use oceanographic data and information recovered from earlier satellite tagging research to predict Atlantic blue marlin distributions in time (month, year, time of day) and space (latitude, longitude and depth).  The methods will be used initially to evaluate climate influences on the ability to infer historical abundances based on longline catch rates for Atlantic blue marlin and swordfish, but may also help forecast the effects of global warming on the future fisheries. The two images below, with red indicating concentration of blue marlin in the months of July and