The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Program. We received over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records for billfish and tunas. These data are used by researchers and management organizations…
Our tag and release competition is a popular and fun way for anglers/crews to be involved in supporting TBF and billfish science since 1990. With numerous categories that vary by…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) staff proudly announces the winners of its most prestigious awards for 2020. This year’s winners include three distinguished gentlemen, who made exemplary contributions to advancing billfish…
Born and raised in Baltimore Maryland, artist George Kalwa has been captivated by the ocean his entire life. An artist since birth, Kalwa began painting and making fishing lures as…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were…
Love was in the air during The Billfish Foundation’s 2019 Tag & Release Awards Ceremony on February 14th, 2020 at Jungle Island’s Bloom Ballroom. The night was made possible through…
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is excited to announce and welcome aboard Fishing Vacations as a new sailfish level conservation partner. Fishing Vacations is a travel agency that focuses on offshore…
TBF’s newest project focuses on juvenile billfish for very little is known about them during their early life stages due to high mortality rates and a lack of reliable tracking…
With the year coming to a close, we thank you for your support, as we reflect on key achievements in 2019. Please consider joining TBF, if not already on board,…
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 conservation.…
A multitude of characters, looking like they stepped straight out of Westeros, caused heads to spin and added lots of excitement to TBF’s gala, Gamefish on Thrones. Wildlings and Night’s…
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is proud to announce our new partnership with Release Marine! Release Marine has been a supporter of TBF for years but will now officially be solidifying…
Anglers, captains, and mates! The TBF International Tag and Release Competition will end on October 31st, 2019. All fish caught after that date will not count towards this year’s competition.…
Attention all creatives! The Billfish Foundation is now accepting submissions for the 2020 Artist of the Year! Every year, TBF chooses one artist to highlight all year long. As the…
The first action plan from National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a proposed Amendment 13 for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna that included a tremendous array of options to modify how Atlantic…
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…
When the US was in the midst of a recession (2007 – 2009), TBF saw a significant reduction in tag and release reports, and it comes as no surprise; the…
In recent years, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has taken great steps to recognize the importance of recreational fishing across the nation and their research continues to reveal the substantial…
It comes as good news to learn of CFOOD, a group of well respected scientists that came together “out of frustration with erroneous stories about fisheries sustainability” to “set the record…
This past June, Biscayne National Park released its new General Management Plan (GMP) to guide actions over the next 20 years in preserving and protecting the shallow water coral reef…
The NMFS recently released its Discussion Draft Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Policy to serve as guiding principles for the agency’s decision making over the long term. NOAA defines EBFM “as…
Michael Kelly, Science & Policy Specialist represented The Billfish Foundation (TBF) on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel, which discussed current billfish, tuna and shark…
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…
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,…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced the closure of the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) Angling category for giant “trophy” bluefin tuna (measuring 73″ or greater) in the southern…
Today, the National Park Service announced its final General Management Plan (GMP) for Biscayne National Park. Despite commitments made by Biscayne National Park officials to work with stakeholders and the…
Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization contains major provisions benefitting recreational fishing A coalition of organizations representing the saltwater recreational fishing and boating community congratulated the U.S. House of Representatives on its passage of…
Anglers who are lucky enough to come across any bluefin tuna this year should make sure they know the new regulations this season. The passage of Amendment 7 brings new regulations for…
Rostrum: a funny word used by scientists to describe the “upper jaw prolonged into a long stout spear with round cross-section.” To anglers, it’s known as a bill and is…
We are asking some of the top captains in the world for some of their tricks/tips, and this month, Capt. Chris Sheeder from Casa Vieja Lodge, a Tag & Release Program…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) kept a promise made at the National Recreational Fishing Summit, February 2014, by its leader, Eileen Soebeck, Assistant Administrator in September 2014, when it…
By Capt. Scott Leon from Sandman Fishing team There are two approaches to rigging kite baits that both have their positives and negatives making the choice ultimately up to each…
Family Fun Fest at Biscayne Bay National Park The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is always looking for new avenues to engage the public on its programs, especially young people. TBF had…
Very much like NASCAR or a professional sports team, large investment opportunities and top notch fishing skills are heading offshore with the creation and launching of the Offshore Fishing League…
Whether it is billfish, tuna, or sharks, fishing for HMS species means finding blue water far offshore from the dock. Venturing offshore and pursuing big game fish requires larger boats,…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released the final regulations for the domestic management of western Atlantic bluefin tuna with Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan. Anglers…
NOAA Fisheries recently held a National Town Hall Meeting in Mid July as well as several webinars seeking input on the development of the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy. Put…
Washington, D.C. – June 26, 2014 – After significant objection from the recreational fishing and boating community, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has taken steps to correct a key…
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…
The following was released by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Group and the Large Pelagics Research Center: The most comprehensive effort to date to characterize striped marlin (Kajikia audax) movements in the Central North…
Over the years, Dr. C. Phillip Goodyear, TBF’s billfish scientist has developed “species distribution models” for highly migratory species that estimate time-varying, three-dimensional distribution of habitat. These models are useful…
Countries are robbed of an estimated $26-50 billion annually due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU). IUU fishing is defined as any fishing operations outside of current regulations…
In March of this year, the 1st Circle Hook Workshop of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) commenced. The goal was to analyze “scientific information regarding different circle hooks sizes…
Sportfishing Banned in Colombia – Beginning in 2023 The Supreme Court of Colombia recently ruled that sportfishing, even catch and release, amounts to torture, thus prohibiting the sport in marine…
After 11:30 p.m., May 17, 2022, fishermen aboard Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling or HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels may not retain, possess, or land large medium or giant Atlantic…
The NMFS has achieved predator-rich relationships with sharks and other species beyond what some scientists describe as “equilibrium.” The result is heavy shark predation of other fish stocks important to…
The member nations, including the U.S., of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the international treaty fishery management organization for Atlantic highly migratory species, approved a…
With the recent Executive Order (EO), recreational fishing gear, bottom trawls, and pelagic longline are viewed the same as all other fishing gear when it comes to designating Marine Protected…
TBF's Winthrop P. Rockefeller's Student Ocean Intern Program awards students who support billfish conservation and believe in responsible fisheries management.
