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…
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…
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…
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…
Raising Bills, hosted by Kristen and David Salazar of Casa Vieja Lodge (CVL), has become one of the most highly anticipated events during the Miami International Boat Show. Industry leaders…
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…
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 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 is in communication with BlueWater Magazine’s Tim Simpson (a TBF Board Member) in Australia who made it clear that the devastating fires continue impacting humans, including those…
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.…
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…
Input requested from anglers regarding potential impacts from offshore wind projects The Billfish Foundation just received word that The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is hosting the only workshop on…
Anglers remain steadfast in objecting to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) approval of Amendment 10 as written. The amendment is now with the Secretary of Commerce for final…
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…
Daily reports and postings of angler-caught fish bitten into or taken whole by Atlantic sharks, known as depredation, painfully and clearly demonstrates the result of one-sided management, which has produced…
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) recommended and the NMFS authorized a single Exempted Fishing Permit for testing a new gear – Modified Snap – in federal waters off California.…
A science paper published in the Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, written by E. Houck et al., from North Carolina State University in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Center…
Currently, the NMFS is considering making many changes to the fishery management plan for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) – Bluefin Tuna. Redistributing tonnage allocations to each managed Fishing Category,…
Traditional tagging of billfish for science produce very valuable data, especially with TBF’s and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) tagging databases spanning decades. In turn, the data helps support…
NOAA Fisheries increased the retention limits of large sharks in the Gulf of Mexico through the end of 2021. As of August 24th, fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico who…
As of 11:30pm on August 4th, 2021, fishing via the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category is closed. NOAA Fisheries announced the closure because the 277.9 mt subquota for June through…
This month the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) accepted applications for Exempted Fishing Permits (EFP) for which decisions will be made in September for the following fishing year. One application…
The current proposed Amendment 13 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan may reallocate the U.S. Atlantic quota share of Bluefin Tuna among Fishing Categories (Angling, Longline, General,…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approved Amendment 12 to the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which adds bullet and frigate mackerel as ecosystem component (EC) species. EC…
On May 11, 2021 at 11:30pm, the Northern Area Trophy Bluefin Fishery closed to angling. It will remain closed for the remainder of the year. The Northern Area is the…
As of May 4 at 11:30pm, the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category Gulf of Mexico Incidental Trophy Fishery is closed. This means that no anglers may land, possess, or retain…
NOAA Fisheries closed the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category for the Southern Area Trophy Fishery on March 1st, 2021. This closure will last all year, ending on December 31st, 2021.…
With sadness and pride The Billfish Foundation (TBF) honors the late John “Jack” P. Duvall, Chairman of its Board of Directors for the second time, who passed away recently. Jack,…
NOAA Fisheries recently released economic impact figures caused by COVID-19 on the U.S. fishing and seafood industry, including wild harvest, aquaculture, and the recreational charter/for-hire sector. Most recreational charter operations…
Stephen “Steve” Levi, a beloved TBF member and passionate angler, unfortunately died in an auto accident on January 8 while in Biloxi, MS. Steve, as he was known, lit up…
Captain Chris Sheeder grew up in Hawaii where the offshore fishing bug bit him hard at age 11 during his first trip, a treat for making good grades. He was…
Recreational fishing may get displaced by aquaculture/mariculture if we don’t give current government plans close scrutiny. NOAA/NMFS, federal Fishery Management Councils, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environment Protection…
NOAA Fisheries transferred 19.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna from the Reserve Category to the General Category. This action will go into effect on December 1st, 2020 and…
The 2012 Billfish Conservation Act (BCA) has yet to be implemented and again is under Congressional review to attempt to resolve debated language so no Pacific billfish can be imported…
The Caribbean Billfish Project, a $1.95 million exercise supported by the UN and the World Bank, and executed by the Western Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission (WECAFC) in Barbados, proposes a…
Anglers from Spain are prohibited this year, as are their commercial fishing vessels, from landing Atlantic blue marlin because the nation’s commercial fishing vessels exceeded their 2015 blue marlin quota.…
TBF’s Gulf of Mexico Blue Marlin Satellite Tagging Expedition, staged out of Port Eads, which is 84.5 miles south of New Orleans, 24 miles south of the southernmost road in…
Sam Williams from the University of Queensland is collaborating with Dr Julian Pepperell in mapping the global genetics of black marlin. We greatly appreciate your assistance in collecting tissue for…
Peter Chaibongsai, representing TBF at a meeting of the U.S. Advisory Committee to Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), an international organization with authority over highly migratory fish in the eastern Pacific…
The Billfish Foundation’s newest International Billfish Conservation Record is now available digitally! The Conservation Record includes the 2014 Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, summary of all tag, release & recapture…
This summer’s Gulf of Mexico’s tournament season began “white hot” with good numbers of marlin, including large ones, and bluefin tuna, which presented unexpected excitement for anglers in the region.…
The Billfish Foundation regularly represents recreational interests and discusses issues surrounding management of billfish and tuna here in US Atlantic waters. This past month, a number of important topics including…
Courtesy of the Big Oh For the past several years, winners of TBF’s International Tag & Release Competition blue marlin categories have all come out of Cape Verde and it…
The Billfish Foundation is pleased to make available our annual Conservation Record, noting 2013 Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients, 2013 Tag & Release Competition winners, and data analysis from this year’s…
Being a part of the sportfishing community and having an opportunities to work alongside our Tag & Release Program sponsors as well as captains and anglers, to put our initiatives…
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is extremely excited to announce and welcome aboard the Marina Casa de Campo as a new Tag & Release Industry sponsor. Located in the beautiful Dominican Republic, and conveniently…
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…
The Obama administration recently issued new rules that allow U.S. visitors going to Cuba to travel in their own boat, whether for hire or recreation, direct to Cuba. Some requirements…
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…
Regrettably, the recent La Presna article dated August 16, 2015 that quotes Ivan Flores, Manager of the Aquatic Resources and Fisheries Authority (ARAP), did not focus on the sustainable use…
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 most recent Atlantic blue marlin research completed by TBF’s Dr. Phillip Goodyear was published by the American Fisheries Society, the oldest, largest and most influential association of fisheries professionals…
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…
It has been more than four years since Australia began the process of designing and implementing its national system of marine reserves encompassing all of its federal waters. These reserves…
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…
No doubt, as the political debate increases over pros and cons of the United States normalizing relations with Cuba, anglers want to move forward to fish in Cuban waters. While…
TBF's Winthrop P. Rockefeller's Student Ocean Intern Program awards students who support billfish conservation and believe in responsible fisheries management.
