News

My name is Addie Spain and I am thrilled to be continuing my time with The Billfish Foundation. I recently graduated from the University of Miami with majors in Marine…

July 26, 2023

Proposed Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for Endangered Rice’s Whales

NOAA announced a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) even though a decision on the vessel speed in the…

July 26, 2023

US BOEM to seek fisheries funds for Gulf of Mexico wind leases

The first offshore wind power lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico will offer a 10 percent credit to developers who contribute to a fisheries compensation fund for commercial and…

June 29, 2023

Update on Speed Restricted Zones

Speed Reduction Zones – TBF opposes the two recently issued proposals by NMFS and NOAA to apply extreme vessel speed reductions (10.5 mph) along the East Coast to all vessels…

June 26, 2023

Steve C. Levi Memorial Trophy Youth Conservation Award

The Billfish Foundation & Gulf Coast Yacht Group present a new Award for Gulf of Mexico Youth Anglers – the Steve C. Levi Memorial Trophy Youth Conservation Award Following the…

June 14, 2023

Welcome Aboard our Newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean Intern – Racine Prinzo

We would like to introduce our newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean intern, Racine Prinzo! Racine is a passionate ocean enthusiast and dedicated intern at TBF. She is a South…

May 5, 2023

Draft Amendment 15 Looks to Open Closed Zones

After 23 years of defending the Closed Zones off the U.S. East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) just shared its options in…

May 4, 2023

Costa’s Marlin-Fly Project

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…

September 17, 2024

TBF’s Miami EcoAdventures Outreach

August 10, 2024

TBF Introduces 10 Grander Club, aka “The Billie Club”

July 15, 2024

Marlin Expeditions and TBF: Teamwork Makes Conservation Work

July 1, 2024

New Benefit for TBF Members: 20% Off Costa Del Mar Products!

June 28, 2024

TBF at Orange Beach Sportfishing Club

June 26, 2024

Jack Guarisco at Savannah Sportfishing Club

June 14, 2024

TBF Legends Category Announcement

June 10, 2024

Rock the Ocean Team Joins TBF!

May 10, 2024

Social Media to the Rescue: Satellite Tag Recovery

May 9, 2024

2024 TBF Lifetime Achievement Awards

May 8, 2024

TBF’s 6-Month Competition Update!

April 13, 2024

Russell S. Nelson, Ph.D. Graduate Science Scholastic Grant

March 22, 2024

TBF’s Annual Award Ceremony Recap!

March 17, 2024

Sailfish Satellite Tagging in Palm Beach

February 15, 2024

TBF Membership Benefits Changes

February 15, 2024

TBF’s Annual Tag & Release Ceremony!

December 10, 2023

Swordfish Driftnets Gone off CA – Will Longlines Follow?

December 1, 2023

76th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Recap

October 26, 2023

NOAA Fisheries Denies Petition to Establish a Mandatory Speed Limit in Gulf of Mexico

October 25, 2023

NOAA Announces $82 Million in Funding for North Atlantic Right Whale

October 18, 2023

NOAA Announces $82 million in Funding for North Atlantic Right Whales

July 26, 2023

Proposed Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for Endangered Rice’s Whales

NOAA announced a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) even though a decision on the vessel speed in the…

July 26, 2023

US BOEM to seek fisheries funds for Gulf of Mexico wind leases

The first offshore wind power lease auction in the Gulf of Mexico will offer a 10 percent credit to developers who contribute to a fisheries compensation fund for commercial and…

June 29, 2023

Update on Speed Restricted Zones

Speed Reduction Zones – TBF opposes the two recently issued proposals by NMFS and NOAA to apply extreme vessel speed reductions (10.5 mph) along the East Coast to all vessels…

May 5, 2023

Draft Amendment 15 Looks to Open Closed Zones

After 23 years of defending the Closed Zones off the U.S. East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) just shared its options in…

April 20, 2023

Wind lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico

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…

April 18, 2023

New Age/Growth Study on Atlantic Blue Marlin and Swordfish need samples!

Scientists at the University of Maine need Atlantic blue marlin that weigh over 800 lbs and Atlantic swordfish over 500 lbs, specifically their heads, and the fork length measurement. They are…

March 13, 2023

New Report of the Economic Contributions by Recreational Fishing Released

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…

March 6, 2023

Proposed Restricted-Fishing Days in the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fishery

Under the proposed rule, NOAA Fisheries will establish RFDs every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from July 1 through November 30, 2023, and every Tuesday and Friday from December 1, 2023,…

February 22, 2023

Closure: Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category Southern Area Trophy Fishery

NOAA announced the closure of the Angling Category Southern Area Trophy Bluefin Tuna (the Southern Area is defined as the area south of 39°18’N lat. (off Great Egg Inlet, NJ),…

February 21, 2023

TBF Endorses Fly and Chester Brewer to Serve on Fishery Management Councils

Robert “Fly” Navarro and Chester Brewer are currently seeking approval to serve on Fishery Management Councils (FMC) for the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. Ellen Peel and The Billfish…

February 17, 2023

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category (Commercial) Fishery Closed

Based on the best available landings information, the adjusted 58.2-mt quota for the January through March time period has been reached and exceeded. Therefore, the fishery will be closed from…

February 10, 2023

Regulations to Authorize Deep-set Buoy Gear for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species

NOAA Fisheries is requesting public comment on proposed regulations (88 FR 7661) to implement Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory…

January 21, 2023

Gulf of Mexico Hotspots Mapping Initiative

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.…

January 13, 2023

West Coast Changes Coming

The phasing out of large mesh drift gillnets in federal waters and the potential authorization of deep-set buoy gear (DSBG) as a more sustainable fisheries alternative are 2 positive changes…

January 12, 2023

Extreme Vessel Speed Reductions – East & Gulf Coasts

A federal proposal may implement an extreme vessel speed restriction of 11.5 mph for vessels 35 feet and larger when motoring through zones designated to reduce vessel strikes of endangered…

December 6, 2022

Update on California Drift Gillnets

A request to officially transition the California drift gillnet swordfish fishery from large mesh drift gillnets to alternative options was submitted under The Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act (H.R.…

October 13, 2022

Update on Closed Zones – October 2022

Decision on Closed Zones Coming Soon Unfortunately, we are still fighting against pelagic longlining being reopened within specific closed zones. As you might remember from last year, an announcement proposing…

October 9, 2022

Proposed Speed Zones Along the East Coast

Extreme Vessel Speed Reductions Once again, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has failed to consider the effects of their decisions on the recreational fishing community. Their recent proposal, which…

October 3, 2022

Amendment 13 Finalized

As of October 3, 2022, Amendment 13 for Bluefin Tuna is now complete and includes changes for commercial fishing under the Individual Bluefin Quota system. Fortunately, there were fewer impacts…

April 3, 2025

TBF & BFD Simplify Billfish Reporting

April 3, 2025

New Tag & Release Category – TBF Legends

April 3, 2025

Marlin Fly Week

March 14, 2025

Partnering for Billfish Conservation: New Integrated Reporting System (VESL) Simplifies Data Collection

March 13, 2025

International Tagging Initiative

March 13, 2025

Annual Tag & Release Ceremony

November 6, 2024

Anglers We Will Miss: Dr. C. Phillip Goodyear

June 11, 2024

Recapture on Japanese Longliner!

March 10, 2024

New Striped Marlin Study

December 1, 2023

76th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Recap

May 4, 2023

Costa’s Marlin-Fly Project

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…

May 1, 2023

Pacific Striped Marlin Rebuilding Plan

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).…

April 20, 2023

Wind lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico

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…

March 13, 2023

New Report of the Economic Contributions by Recreational Fishing Released

January 21, 2023

Gulf of Mexico Hotspots Mapping Initiative

December 6, 2022

Costa Rican Government Supports Sailfish Conservation

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…

September 12, 2022

Gulf of Mexico Restoration Plan

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…

September 12, 2022

Costa Rica’s Tuna Reform Law – Billfish Impacts Uncertain

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…

August 10, 2022

New Findings on Striped Marlin Migrations

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…

August 10, 2022

Estimating Pelagic Longline Bycatch

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…

June 24, 2022

Fight Against Illegal Fishing by Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA)

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…

June 15, 2022

Effects of Circle Hooks on Sharks and Rays – IATTC Review

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…

June 3, 2022

Colombia and Panama Updates – June 2022

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…

May 17, 2022

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Angling Category Gulf of Mexico Fishery Update

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…

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