On February 13, 2014 The Billfish Foundation honored conservation achievements at the 2014 Tag and Release Ceremony held at Miami’s Jungle Island Treetop Ballroom in front of a crowd of more than 200 individuals. The 24th annual Tag and Release Ceremony was sponsored by Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund and the awards were presented by King Sailfish Mounts. TBF would also like to thank all of our Tag and Release Program Sponsors (Casa Vieja Lodge, Costa Sunglasses, and Pelagic Gear) for sponsoring TBF’s cornerstone program for billfish conservation. The incredible ceremony would not be possible without the support of Deceiver Charters for sponsoring the open bar and Sailfish Brewery for the local craft beers at the ceremony. During the cocktail hour, guests were visited by some animals and viewed a visual presentation highlighting TBF’s new Tag & Release online database. All award winners in attendance not only received an beautiful award made from Kings Sailfish Mounts but they also received sunglasses from Costa Sunglasses. Guests who were not recognized on stage had the chance to win a door prize as well as participate in the raffle which included products from our Tag and Release Program sponsors as well as ORCA coolers, Boat Outfitters, TrollPro, Release Ruler, and artwork by Tony Ludovico and Yellowfin Gallery.
TBF’s Overall Tagging Angler Winner for all species (any combination of blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, white marlin, sailfish and/or spearfish) included: Christian Hampl (Miami, Fla., USA). Martha Macnab (Balboa Island, CA USA) took the honors as the Top Overall Lady Tagging Angler. Nick Brackmann (Huntington Beach, CA USA) won the Top Overall Youth Tagging Angler. Top Overall Tagging Captain was Edgar Montero (Miami, FL USA).
In the release division, taking the honors for the second year in a row as both Top Overall Release Angler and Top Overall Release Lady Angler was Tiffany Sisolak (Kitty Hawk, NC, USA). Gregory Benn (Great Falls, VA USA) won the Top Overall Release Youth Angler and Brad Philipps (Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala) kept his title as the Top Overall Release Captain.
The 2014 competition began Nov.1, 2013 and will wrap up on Oct. 31, 2014. TBF members from all over are invited to participate and ‘Tag Data Reports’ and ‘Release Notifications’ can be submitted to TBF using either the traditional hard copies or reported more quickly and easily online on our new online database. Separate categories currently exist for each the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans with additional categories being considered for the near future.
To be eligible to receive an award active TBF members must have tagged and/or released five or more of a species to qualify. In addition, TBF’s Youth Program recognizes the conservation ethics and achievements of young anglers. It includes a three fish minimum in three separate age groupings for both tag and release categories.
For more on TBF’s annual Tag & Release program please visit http://www.billfish.org or call 954-938-0150 for Peter Chaibongsai (ext. 107), Andrew Cox (ext. 115), or Michael Kelly (ext. 102).
2013 TAGGING AWARDS
OVERALL TAGGING AWARDS
Top Overall Tagging Angler – Christian Hampl – Doral, FL USA
Top Overall Lady Tagging Angler – Martha Macnab – Balboa Island, CA USA
Top Overall Youth Tagging Angler – Nick Brackmann – Huntington Beach, CA USA
Top Overall Tagging Captain – Edgar Montero – Doral, FL USA
TOP TAGGING ANGLERS – ATLANTIC
Blue Marlin – Mike Brauser – Lighthouse Point, FL USA
Sailfish – Jose Guanipa – Caraballeda, Venezuela
Spearfish – Gray Ingram – Jupiter, FL USA
Swordfish – Richard Gudoian – Key Largo, FL USA
White Marlin – Laurent Sahyoun – Casablanca, Morocco
TOP TAGGING ANGLERS – INDIAN
Black Marlin – Scott MacGowan – Baynton, Australia
Blue Marlin * – Daniel James – Wadeye, Australia
Blue Marlin * –Oliver Porter – Bull Creek, Australia
Blue Marlin * – Joseph Sutherland – Broome, Australia
Sailfish – Henry Riggs-Miller – Victoria, Seychelles
TOP TAGGING ANGLERS – PACIFIC
Blue Marlin – Christian Hampl – Doral, FL USA
Sailfish – Jack Duvall – Kemah, TX USA
Spearfish – Sandra Hiler – South Bend, IN USA
Striped Marlin – Martha Macnab – Balboa Island, CA USA
TOP TAGGING CAPTAINS – ATLANTIC
Blue Marlin – Ronnie Fields – Lake Park, FL USA
Sailfish – Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA
Spearfish – Ronnie Fields – Lake Park, FL USA
Swordfish – Sean O’Connor – Key Largo, FL USA
White Marlin – Christian Banazeth – Auch, France
TOP TAGGING CAPTAINS – INDIAN
Black Marlin – Bernard Vale – Coral Bay, Australia
Blue Marlin – Eddy Lawler – Exmouth, Australia
Sailfish – Ross Newton – Broome, Australia
Striped Marlin – Eddy Lawler – Exmouth, Australia
TOP TAGGING CAPTAINS – PACIFIC
Black Marlin – Tim Richardson – Bangalow, Australia
Blue Marlin – Edgar Montero – Doral, FL USA
Sailfish – Skeet Warren – Flamingo, Costa Rica
Spearfish – Gene Vander Hoek – Kailua-Kona, HI USA
Striped Marlin – Bernabe Ruiz – Cabo San Lucas, MX
YOUTH TAGGING AWARDS
Ages 8 And Under – Charles Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA
Ages 11-12 – Jack Way – Houston, TX USA
Ages 11-12 Runner-Up – Serenity Schneider – Boca Raton, FL USA
Ages 13-15 – Nick Brackmann – Huntington Beach, CA USA
Ages 13-15 Runner-Up – Lillian Way – Houston, TX USA
Ages 16-17 – Matthew Hancock – San Antonio, TX USA
2013 RELEASE AWARDS
OVERALL RELEASE AWARDS
Top Overall Release Angler – Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA
Top Overall Release Lady Angler – Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA
Top Overall Release Youth Angler – Gregory Benn – Great Falls, VA USA
Top Overall Release Captain – Brad Philipps – Guatemala
TOP RELEASE ANGLERS – ATLANTIC
Blue Marlin – Gray Ingram – Jupiter, FL USA
Sailfish – Gray Ingram – Jupiter, FL USA
White Marlin – Gregory Benn – Great Falls, VA USA
TOP RELEASE ANGLERS – INDIAN
Black Marlin – Henry Riggs-Miller – West Palm Beach, FL USA
Sailfish – Henry Riggs-Miller – West Palm Beach, FL USA
TOP RELEASE ANGLERS – PACIFIC
Black Marlin – Barry Alty – Gold Coast, Australia
Blue Marlin – Christian Hampl – Doral, FL USA
Sailfish – Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA
Striped Marlin – Chris Bays – Kailua Kona, HI USA
Swordfish – John Gregory – Kerikeri, New Zealand
TOP RELEASE CAPTAINS – ATLANTIC
Blue Marlin – Ronnie Fields – Lake Park, FL USA
Sailfish – Scott Leon – Pembroke Pines, FL USA
White Marlin – Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA
TOP RELEASE CAPTAINS – INDIAN
Black Marlin – Brad Philipps – Guatamala City, Guatemala
Sailfish – Rolly Pierre – Denis Island, Seychelles
TOP RELEASE CAPTAINS – PACIFIC
Black Marlin – Brett Alty – Coombarah, Australia
Blue Marlin – Edgar Montero – Doral, FL USA
Sailfish – Brad Philipps – Guatemala City, Guatemala
Spearfish – Chris Bays – Kailua Kona, HI USA
Striped Marlin – Chris Bays – Kailua Kona, HI USA
Swordfish – John Gregory – Keri Keri, New Zealand
YOUTH RELEASE AWARDS
Ages 8 And Under – Brown Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA
Ages 11-12 – Bo Ingram – Greensboro, NC USA
Ages 11-12 – Katie Davis – Malibu, CA USA
Ages 13-15 – Gregory Benn – Great Falls, VA USA
Ages 13-15 Runner-Up* – Nick Brackmann – Huntington Beach, CA USA
Ages 13-15 Runner-Up* – Wesley Davis – Malibu, CA USA
Ages 16-17 – Ridge Murphy – Homestead, FL USA
* Denotes a tie
