The first annual Sailfish Brewing Company’s Tag & Release Amber Festival was held on July 20th at Sailfish Brewery in Fort Pierce, Florida to bring awareness and generate funds for…
On July 3,The Billfish Foundation submitted their official comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as part of the scoping process for the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012. Signed…
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…
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A report released today by The Billfish Foundation (TBF) reveals that sportfishing has been a major factor in attracting tourists to Panama providing a valuable fishing-based…
This month, Australia is on the brink of establishing the world’s largest network of marine reserves that will cover close to 900,000 square miles including vast zones that would restrict…
Andrés Carrasco Martínez Do you have any amazing billfishing pictures? We’d love to see them AND reward you with some free stuff ! The Billfish Foundation and HookBuzz.comare proud to announce a monthly…
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…
A recent decision to prohibit the commercial harvest of marlin in New Zealand waters represents another victory for billfish conservation. Last year a reevaluation of the management of billfish and…
Established in 1990, The Billfish Foundation’s Tag and Release Program is the largest private billfish tagging database in the world and the cornerstone of TBF’s conservation and advocacy efforts. With…
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…
Not many people want to go back to school, one time through is enough for many, but that is exactly what The Billfish Foundation’s Peter Chaibongsai did last week at…
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…
The Atlantic bluefin tuna General category fishery for large-medium and giant bluefin tuna closes Thursday October 5, 2017 for roughly two months. This comes just four days after the October…
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (and other highly migratory species, HMS) convened mid-September in Madrid, Spain specifically to discuss management of tropical tunas followed by the…
TBF thanks its constituents for their continued support in keeping this issue at the forefront. Join the TBF community today to be part of our efforts on matters like
Bags of trash collected during Miami Seaquarium’s beach cleanup to commemorate their 62nd anniversary The Billfish Foundation strives to support its local south Florida community and partners with like-minded organizations…
Highly migratory species, including tunas and billfish, travel the world’s oceans and traverse national boundaries. Regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) work at the international level to manage such species, bringing…
The Atlantic bluefin tuna General category fishery for large-medium and giant bluefin tuna (73 in. curved fork length or larger) closes September 17, 2017 for the remainder of the month.…
Nova Southeastern University’s longline research in Florida’s east coast closed zone may damage its reputation for community relations and science. An associate professor from the university was granted an exempted…
An online reporting system will now be available for highly migratory species (HMS) fishing tournaments in the Atlantic Ocean, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced this week. HMS tournament operators…
One of the last billfishing competitions of the summer, the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament concluded this past weekend in Virginia Beach, VA. The tournament hosted 75 teams this year for…
The 46th Annual Old Salt Loop Billfish Tournament concluded in Clearwater, Florida this past weekend, wrapping up the Florida West Coast Bluewater Series (FWCBS) as it was the third and…
Earlier this month U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced legislation designed to enhance and protect Florida’s fishery resources and those who rely on them. The Florida…
Click here to submit comments to FL Senators Rubio and Nelson. Click here to submit comments to your US & FL House representatives and FL State Senators. Click here to…
After the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced today its approval of the Exempted Fishing Permit that allows longline boats to fish in Florida’s east coast closed zone, Ellen Peel, President…
On Tuesday NOAA released preliminary numbers for Atlantic billfish landings in 2017. The estimates show individuals caught (and reported) thus far in 2017, from January 1st through June 30th, for blue…
The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Tuesday that they rejected a petition to list the Pacific bluefin tuna as an endangered species. A long list of environmental organizations combined efforts…
Appointed in June with support from over 55 commercial fishing companies and organizations, the new Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has a number of pressing issues…
Interns from The Billfish Foundation spent Thursday morning at South Broward High School with a group of incoming freshmen who are part of the marine magnet program. These students have…
As fisheries regulations develop, there is often the need for enforcement of compliance—enforcing gear restrictions, enforcing size limits, enforcing the return of non-target species, and ultimately enforcing the law. Ensuring…
Welcome to our Did You Know blog! Billfish and related species, like tuna and swordfish, are amazing creatures and set themselves apart from other fish. The Billfish Foundation would like…
Seafood is big business. Not only is it an industry that exchanges billions of dollars in trade globally, but the sector also trades an abundance of resources that contribute to food…
The National Marine Fisheries serviced announced that the recreational bluefin tuna harvest in the Gulf of Mexico has reached its quota and will close June 7, 2017 until the end of the…
The quota for bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico has been updated after a large individual was landed in a fishing tournament last week. Katie Gonsoulin pulled in a…
On May 18, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced Section 396, an amendment to the 2012 Billfish Conservation Act. The bill, initially introduced in February by U.S.…
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has begun a Scoping Process to consider allowing giant trawlers to increase their excessive landings of forage species off the Mid-Atlantic region, specifically chub (Tinker)…
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.
Which Way Will New Head of NMFS Sway On Longline Closed Zone?