For many years, top tag and release  of TBF’s Tag & Release Competition’s blue marlin categories have come from of Cape Verde. Each year this small chain of islands off the west coast of Africa draws in some of the biggest names in the sportfishing industry. The number of blue marlin and their sizes in Cape Verde make it an important fishery for TBF to recognize.
Only blue marlin and white marlin entries are valid for this regional competition. Anglers, captains and mates MUST be a current TBF member to receive an award based on their submitted Tagging Data Report and Release Notification Cards. Regardless of membership, all data from every card is valuable for billfish research and membership is not required if you wish submit your tag & release data from anywhere in the world. You can check your membership status or join TBF by calling (954) 938-0150 ext. 106. If you have registered with our online tag and release database, you can see if your membership is current in your profile page and join or renew at www.billfish.org. Charter captains must have a valid captain’s license and all necessary licenses for a documented charter vessel. Tags must be deployed on the same vessel in order to be counted for charter categories. Overall tag and release categories are calculated as the total number of eligible species reported tagged and or released by a captain or angler.
Hired, for-pay captain and anglers or captains and anglers that have won more than $10,000 in the past three years in tournament winnings (billfish tournaments only) qualify for professional divisions with the exception of junior angler categories. For-hire, charter boat captains are only eligible for professional divisions.
November 1st – October 31st
All tag and release reports must be sent in to The Billfish Foundation or entered in TBF’s Tag & Release Online Database by November 15th of every year to be eligible for the competition. Only blue marlin and white marlin tagged and or released during the dates above will be counted.
* To enter the competition, all youth anglers MUST include their date of birth within their online profile of the tagging database. If submitting physical cards via mail, write in the date of birth in the space provided next to their name. Youth anglers must be active TBF members to win.
Every year The Billfish Foundation is proud to recognize all the winners for the past year’s Tag & Release Competition. This ceremony allows us to highlight the captains, anglers, and mates who contributed invaluable catch data towards billfish conservation.
US, Atlantic waters from Fort Pierce to Key West. The area is defined to include anglers and captains fishing from the counties of St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe.
TBF recognizes the valuable contribution of mates in both the release and tagging of billfish. In addition to anglers and captains, mates will also be awarded with a plaque for his or her level of achievement.
Awards will be given during the International Tag & Release award ceremony during the Miami International Boat Show.
The post-release survival of billfish is vital and TBF urges that proper tagging procedures are used when tagging any billfish to ensure safe, healthy releases (see TBF’s Tag & Release Program brochure for more information). Improper tag placement, ‘speed tagging’ or using too much force when tagging can result in serious injury or death to the fish. For this reason TBF does not encourage tagging during tournaments. However, if a boat chooses to tag any sailfish during a tournament they will be counted toward the TBF Gulf of Mexico Tagging Competition. All participants are encouraged to see TBF’s Tag & Release brochure for information on safe handling and proper tagging procedure.
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