Stock assessments provide the ability for scientists to evaluate changes in fish populations through time. For highly migratory species that travel thousands of miles, across entire ocean basins, this process…
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…
Australia’s proposed network of marine reserves is threatening to close off close to a million square kilometers to anglers, but fortunately, several scientists and organizations have been working to try…
The Billfish Foundation would like to welcome Pelagic Gear as a new Tag & Release Sponsor! We are excited to have them on board to support and promote TBF’s Tag…
On May 1, nearly 10,000 students from across South Florida learned about weather and billfish at the eighth annual CBS 4 Weather Day. This event took place prior to the…
The winner of TBF’s first Sid Johnson Memorial Conservation Trophy was won by team Vesper from Trinidad for releasing the most billfish during the 2012 Southern Caribbean Billfish Circuit. The…
The Billfish Foundation would like to welcome Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund as a new Grand Slam Sponsor! We are excited to have them on board and working with…
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…
Cam V. Sigler, Sr. age 71, passed away March 20, 2013 following a year- long battle with cancer. Cam was famously recognized as the man in the “Broad Brimmed Hat”…
Learn more about how you can help conserve billfish, by fishing responsibly, releasing your catch, and joining TBF! Become actively involved in TBF’s Tag & Release Program! Traditional tagging data…
In General Terms- The term “Billfish” refers to various predatory fish species typically belonging to the taxonomical family Istiophoridae. Their biological characteristics include a spear-like rostrum or “bill,” which is…
The beautiful Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) is a collection of small islands within the British West Indies is known for its white sand beaches, amazing coral reefs, and great…
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…
On a recent March afternoon along the beautiful intracoastal waterway in Jensen Beach, Florida, the first annual Slack Tide Guide Gathering was hosted byCosta, YETI, Simms, and Hell’s Bay Boat…
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…
While many environmental groups are praising Australia and claiming victory, all is not said and done for the establishment of Australia’s National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA) and…
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…
The Billfish Foundation believes in conservation through sportfishing by using Research, Education, and Advocacy. Support TBF and ensure that fishing opportunities are available for future
On February 13, 2015 The Billfish Foundation will honor conservation achievements at the 2015 Tag and Release Ceremony held at Miami’s Jungle Island Treetop Ballroom. The Tag and Release Ceremony sponsored by Bisbee’s…
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)…
With the year coming to a close, we thank you for your support, as we reflect on TBF’s key contributions in 2020. To stay up-to-date on all things billfish, become a…
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 deadline for tagging and releasing billfish for The Billfish Foundation’s 2019-2020 Tag and Release Competition was on October 31st, 2020. All records must received by TBF by the end…
The Billfish Foundation’s first ever Virtual Gala ended Friday, October 30th, after weeks of build-up and excitement! Beginning October 16th, TBF supporters joined in to support billfish conservation online with…
The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Program is the cornerstone of our conservation and advocacy. We are proud to maintain the largest private tag and release database in the world,…
Despite COVID-19 and resulting challenges for The Billfish Foundation (TBF), board members and staff invite you to join and support our 2020 VIRTUAL Gala, guaranteed to be casual as you…
Listed below are the top 5 captains and anglers in each category for The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Competition as of August 3, 2020. If a category is missing,…
The most important data received through TBF’s Tag & Release Program is recapture data. A recapture occurs when a tagged billfish is caught by a second angler subsequent to the…
On January 10,The Billfish Foundation (TBF) submitted official comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for Draft Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for…
The Billfish Foundation is a proud beneficiary of tournaments that support billfish conservation either by limiting billfish catches to all release, setting size limits to minimize the number of billfish…
For years, members of the sportfishing community have felt that scientists and fisheries managers should consult those on the water and in the industry when making decisions. Our community is…
Listed below are the top 5 captains and anglers in each category for The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Competition as of May 28, 2020. If a category is missing,…
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…
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…
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.
TBF SUBMITS COMMENTS FOR AMENDMENT 7 FOR BLUEFIN TUNA MANAGEMENT