Photo Courtesy of Brian Toney The Hawaiian Islands are undoubtedly a special place for many reasons. In the eyes of many anglers, it is unique for being the only place…
Photo Courtesy of Brian Toney The Hawaiian Islands are undoubtedly a special place for many reasons. In the eyes of many anglers, it is unique for being the only place…
Through its 30-year old tagging program, supported by 190,000 voluntary angler-reported tag reports from around the world, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) assists scientists in gaining a better understanding of billfish’s…
A recent Presidential Proclamation opened waters, closed in 2016, to commercial fishing inside the 5,000 square miles of the designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, located 130 miles…
NOAA Fisheries is doubling the number of swordfish allowed to be harvested by commercial fisheries. These expanded retention limits apply to vessels issued a Swordfish General Commercial permit or an…
The Northern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category Trophy Fishery will officially close as of 11:30pm on May 21, 2020. It will remain closed for the remainder of 2020. This closure…
NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Atlantic swordfish, billfish, and tunas, including bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, and albacore. This update include all landings between January 1st and March 31st of…
On February 7th, the National Marine Fisheries Service published a final ruling on the implementation of hard caps for drift gillnet fisheries (DGN) in the Pacific. These fisheries target thresher…
NOAA has announced big changes in daily retention limits for bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. These changes increase retention for those operating with an HMS Angling permit or an…
The National Marine Fisheries Service’s recently issued its final decision on Gear Restricted Areas (GRA) and Weak Hook use by pelagic longline vessels. These decisions ARE NOT related to the…
During the present COVID-19 pandemic, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) staff and board members have great empathy for each individual and company who is suffering physically and economically. Each TBF staff…
NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Northern Atlantic swordfish and tunas, including bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, and northern albacore. This update includes all landings of these species from January 1…
For the second year in a row, Costa Sunglasses hosted their Conservation Village in the Miami International Boat Show to educate showgoers about ocean conservation and encourage them to help…
The General Category for Atlantic bluefin tuna will close beginning February 24th at 11:30pm and reopen on June 1st. This closure marks the fulfillment of the 100mt January subquota, which,…
The Angling Category for trophy Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Southern Area (the area south of Great Egg Inlet, New Jersey, 39°18’N lat) has already reached its 1.8 mt subquota,…
The 2011 required year-round use of weak hooks (15/0 carbon vs 16/0 steel for regularly used hook) by pelagic longline vessels fishing in the Gulf of Mexico was for 12…
The Gear Restricted Area (GRA) off Cape Hatteras implemented to reduce bluefin tuna bycatch by pelagic longline vessels now is open to the gear. The waters had been closed December…
NOAA Fisheries announced the final landings updates for Atlantic swordfish and tunas, including bluefin. This update includes all fish landed between January 1st and December 31st, 2019. It also released…
Pelagic longline “research” decisions not yet issued that could authorize the gear to fish inside waters closed for 19 and 20 years off of Florida’s east coast, Charleston and in…
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is looking for anglers and crews interested in tagging tuna in the Northern Atlantic. TBF is working with scientists from the Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Tagging…
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is an international regional fishery management organization for highly migratory species (HMS) in the Atlantic, including billfish, tunas, and some…
While no action was taken by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its November meeting to advance further consideration of its recently proposed measure to consider authorizing a…
NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Atlantic swordfish and bluefin tuna. This update includes all fish landed between January 1st and October 31st of this year. For swordfish, a total…
Because overfished Atlantic marlin receive no government research funding priority, large data gaps relating to their life history characteristics remain. Satellite tagging provides a means to fill some of the…
The Pacific Fishery Management Counsel is proposing to authorize the use of shallow-set longline gear to fish for swordfish off the West Coast of the United States. Below are the…
NOAA is considering an amendment to the current Fishery Management Plan for Coral and Coral Reef Resources in Gulf of Mexico. The amendment establishes new and modifies existing habitat areas…
TBF's Winthrop P. Rockefeller's Student Ocean Intern Program awards students who support billfish conservation and believe in responsible fisheries management.
TBF Responds to New Pacific Fishery Management Council Initiative