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…
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…
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…
Photo Courtesy of Big OH & Camila Sanches Tag & Release cards are really starting to come in and TBF’s annual Tag and Release Competition is heating up with less…
TBF’s “conservation and responsible use” philosophy applauds anglers big enough to release the big marlin girls that are estimated at boat side to weigh 750 pounds and up. To honor…
Learn about all the tag and release data The Billfish Foundation received in the calendar year of 2013. The report highlights all those anglers and captains who participated in the…
Sportfishing is quickly becoming a growing force, not just in the United States, but internationally. This past July, more than 13,000 representatives of the global sportfishing industry came together once…
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,…
PAXSON “PACKY” OFFIELD, former chairman of The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) board of directors, passed away Sunday June 14th at his home in Michigan. In 2011, Offield was the recipient of…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA – June 8, 2015 – Today, The Billfish Foundation (TBF), the world’s leading sportfishing conservation organization, announced the winners of its prestigious Rybovich Lifetime…
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…
The Billfish Foundation has received several inquiries regarding our annual tag and release competition. In response we have attached our specific rules for the competition. Additionally we have the individual…
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…
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…
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…
Photo Courtesy of Chris Van Leeuwen The Offshore World Championship and The Billfish Foundation announced a partnership to advance billfish science last month. The project, including OWC, The Billfish Foundation,…
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…
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…
Over 100 guests attended the exclusive member’s only The Billfish Foundation (TBF) and International Seakeepers Society joint event to promote membership and announce a partnership between both organizations to collaborate on billfish conservation. The…
Each year, TBF relies on the sportfishing community across the world to report their billfish tag and release information. Since it began in 1990, TBF’s Tag & Release Program anglers,…
Each year, TBF relies on the sportfishing community across the world to report their billfish tag and release data. Since it began in 1990, TBF’s Tag & Release Program now…
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…
Draft Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for bluefin tuna was released in August of 2013 with possible alternatives for managing domestic bluefin tuna. The…
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently released the Final Rule for Swordfish Management (Amendment 8) and a Draft Rule for Bluefin Tuna Management (Amendment 7). Both have particularly important…
On August 28, TBF attended the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Composed of Governors from each of the five Gulf States and representatives from six…
On June 26, 2013 the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) revised their policy for evaluating proposals to convert obsolete, offshore oil and gas production platforms into artificial reefs…
Going out fishing is great, but did you ever wonder how science is involved with sportfishing? The Billfish Foundation’s (TBF) current educational program with LMR tackle, based out of Fort…
The Billfish Foundation is a global leader in illustrating the social, economic, and environmental benefits of recreational fishing and fishing tourism activities. By uncovering the economic impact of recreational fishing…
On May 2, 2013 The Billfish Foundation submitted their official comments for Draft Amendment 8 for swordfish management in the United States as part of the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory…
TBF and Carey Chen inspired Shark Wall Mural done by South Broward High School Students Every year, National Week of the Ocean, Inc. honors community leaders and marine educators. This…
Do you remember the first time you tied your first knot or caught your first fish? On April 7th 2013, young people and their parents did just that with the…
The Billfish Conservation Act (BCA) of 2012 was signed into law on October 5, 2012 creating a positive step for billfish conservation! The Billfish Conservation Act will prohibit the sale…
Fort Lauderdale, FL – On March 19 and 20, stakeholders and experts from over 11 countries and 10 organizations descended upon south Florida and took part in a workshop to…
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the annual edition of Fisheries Economics of the United States for 2011, highlighting the economic impact of both recreational and commercial…
On January 30, 2013 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released the 90-day finding on the two petitions received from Mr. James Chambers and the Center For Biological Diversity (CBD)…
On December 18th 2012, The Billfish Foundation submitted a letter on behalf of its members regarding the potential issuance of Exempted Fishing Permits (EMPs) that would allow longline vessels to…
Lighthouse Point,FL – Do you remember the first billfish you hooked into? The amazementyou felt when you watched it jump and dart through the water? The burningfeeling in your arms…
We all fish for different reasons. Whatever the motivation we build a collection of individual fishing accomplishments. Through this lifelong journey you will always remember who taught you to fish…
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…
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…
TBF's Winthrop P. Rockefeller's Student Ocean Intern Program awards students who support billfish conservation and believe in responsible fisheries management.
