The Billfish Foundation was the result of a movement led by anglers who began noticing there were fewer big fish to catch. At the time, billfish tournaments featured piles of…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently issued a plan (Scoping Document, March 2018) to reinvigorate the longline fishery rather than proposing stricter conservation measures. If actions to reinvigorate the…
The Paxson H. Offield Lifetime Science Achievement Award The award is named in honor of a former TBF board member, who believed passionately in the value of science to support responsible…
The Billfish Foundation objects to the goal of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to revitalize the pelagic longline (PLL) fishery. Instead, TBF is calling for options that continue to…
The Billfish Foundation recently sent a survey to its members in order to better understand the concerns and wants of our constituents. Over 100 responses have been recorded, which TBF…
Will Okaloosa County’s (in Florida’s panhandle) planned recreational fishing buoy system perform as a collection of fish aggregation devices (FADs) and draw lots of fish to significantly improve billfish catches…
Last year’s halting of the federally permitted longline research inside a zone closed to the gear for 16 years off Florida’s east coast was a positive step for conservation and…
Management of sailfish in the Atlantic Ocean falls under the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), which is responsible for tuna and associated species like billfish. The…
NOAA Fisheries has decided to close the Angling category fishery for large-medium and giant, “trophy,” Atlantic bluefin tuna in the southern area, beginning March 17, 2018 and lasting the rest…
The National Marine Fisheries Service this week released its fourth quarter update on 2017 recreational billfish landings, rounding out landing estimates for the year. These landing numbers come from a…
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) considered over 600 written comments and heard public testimony last week, before voting to send a letter to NOAA Fisheries expressing their concerns…
The National Marine Fisheries Service transferred 10 metric tons (2,2046 pounds) of Atlantic bluefin tuna quota from the Reserve category to the General January sub-category, until that quota is landed…
The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) Tag and Release Award winners, the “Who’s Who” in the billfishing world, were honored during the International Tag and Release Awards Ceremony at Miami’s Jungle Island on February…
Note: the SAFMC public comment period ended on the day of the meeting, March 7, 2018. More comment periods will be coming, stay up to date by subscribing to our…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) finally announced as “invalid” the Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) issued last year to a Nova Southeastern University (NSU) scientist granting permission to longline within…
Preliminary National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) statistics comparing Atlantic bluefin tuna landings in December 2017 to December 2016 indicate more fish were landed in 2017, but smaller in size and…
Recent images from the island nation of Trinidad & Tobago have again brought attention to the plight of billfish in the Caribbean. The photos show over a dozen billfish that…
A group of anglers were rescued off the Boynton Beach Inlet Saturday morning after their boat was allegedly sunk by a massive marlin. However, their story has since been called…
The Billfish Foundation was honored to join the 55th annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament as a benefiting charity this year. The tournament, held at Sailfish Marina in West Palm Beach,…
NOVA Southeastern University Scientist and assistant professor, David W. Kerstetter, who received a federal Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) in 2017 to conduct longline research in Florida’s east coast closed zone,…
We all want that epic photo. Whether it’s the most beautiful bonefish you’ve ever reeled in, a tasty grouper you’ve pulled up from the reef, and especially the mighty sailfish…
Each year The Billfish Foundation recognizes the best of the best in the billfishing community to acknowledge the significant effort they contribute to our Tag & Release Program and billfish…
The Southeast Permits Office of NOAA Fisheries is reminding permit holders that all limited access permits must be renewed by the termination date printed on the front of the permit.…
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…
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…
NOAA Fisheries has released updated compliance guides for recreational fishing of highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean. These guides include detailed anatomical figures, identification charts, and species-specific bag limits,…
As of 11:30pm on October 13th, 2019, the general category Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery has closed. This closure will persist through November, which signifies the end of the current subquota…
NOAA fisheries announced third quarter landing updates for bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, northern albacore, and swordfish. These landings include all fish landed commercially and recreationally by…
In July, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) drafted a proposal to create a recreational limit for blackfin tuna in Florida and the surrounding federal waters. In it’s…
For years, we have all heard about the amazing fishery and waters in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. From the hookups of doubles, triples, and quads of striped marlin with daily releases…
Western & Central Northern Pacific striped marlin, whose abundance, especially spawning-stock biomass, and size are greatly diminished and retain low priority within the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).…
The proposed sale is part of the leasing project announced by the DOI in 2021 to meet the Biden administration’s goal to deploy thirty gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity…
Last week, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) released the 2023 Economic Contributions of Recreational Fishing: U.S. Congressional Districts report, an update of previous data in partnership with Southwick Associates. The…
NOAA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are collaborating on a 5-year project to “evaluate the feasibility of bycatch hotspots” via communication networks in the Gulf of Mexico.…
A Step in the Right Direction for Sailfish in Costa Rica If you’re expecting to come across sailfish meat in the Costa Rican Canasta Basica, then you’re unfortunately going to…
Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, a group of federal representatives have continued to assess and develop recovery strategies for injured…
As reported recently in the Tico Times, a new Costa Rican tuna law requires all purse seine vessels (none of which are owned by Costa Rican interests) to fish outside of…
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