As The Billfish Foundation (TBF) launches its 40th anniversary year, the organization is turning celebration into action. The first of five planned Groundswell Projects is officially underway: the Southern Florida Sailfish Initiative, a focused satellite-tagging effort designed to deepen scientific understanding of one of sportfishing’s most iconic species.

This inaugural project was made possible through a partnership with Fish Bluewater and its Sailfish Challenge, which uniquely awards its winning team with a satellite tag to deploy in partnership with TBF. The initiative also marks the beginning of TBF’s ambitious goal of securing 40 satellite tags for billfish research in honor of its 40th anniversary in 2026.

Over a three-week period off Haulover Inlet and Palm Beach, five pop-off satellite archival tags (PSATs) were successfully deployed on Atlantic sailfish. This year’s effort brought together the last two Sailfish Challenge champions: Sandman (63′ Spencer) and Native Son (39′ SeaVee), alongside Old No. 7 (70′ Spencer), Princess Lily (66′ Viking), and the Valhalla 55′ Demo. Scientists from the University of Southern Mississippi joined TBF to deploy the satellite tags and provide on-the-water expertise. 

Each of the five PSATs deployed are programmed to stay on for 6 – 9 months and transmit data via satellite, revealing seasonal migration patterns, vertical habitat use, and potential spawning or feeding hotspots. Findings here could be critical to learn if these fish are actually residential in nature or not. 

In a rare and exciting moment, the team also recovered a previously tagged sailfish and was able to deploy a new satellite tag on the same fish, further demonstrating the survivability of properly released billfish and the long-term value of research efforts.

TBF thanks Bluewater Movements and the owners of Old No. 7, Princess Lily, Native Son, Sandman, and the team at Viking Yachts/Valhalla Boatworks for their belief in our mission and their support of this project. Their willingness to commit time, resources, and vessels to advancing billfish science reflects the kind of industry leadership that strengthens conservation across the sport.

For tournament winners, the initiative represents something larger than a trophy. It allows a hard-earned victory to extend beyond the leaderboard and into science, turning a competitive milestone into actionable conservation.

The South Florida Sailfish Initiative demonstrates that the pursuit of billfish and stewardship of the resource are not opposing forces, but complementary responsibilities. With five new tags now deployed, the South Florida Sailfish Initiative marks a strong start toward TBF’s 40-tag commitment, proving that tournament success can translate directly into meaningful conservation for the future of the sport. The sport only thrives if the fish do too.