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The Billfish Foundation (TBF) and BFD (formerly Bluefin Data) have teamed up to create an exciting new opportunity for the future of billfish conservation. Together, they’ve integrated BFD’s electronic logbook application, VESL, with TBF’s Tag & Release Program, making it easier than ever for anglers and charter captains to contribute to billfish research and conservation efforts. Now, you can report data through TBF’s online database AND BFD’s new application, VESL.

This new partnership simplifies the process of reporting billfish, allowing anglers and captains to seamlessly submit both required Highly Migratory Species (HMS) data and TBF’s billfish tag and release information through a single platform, VESL. Now, the process is easier than ever for the fishing community, reducing the time and effort needed while improving the quality of data collected.

The data collected through this collaboration will play a crucial role in advancing billfish conservation. With over 290,000 data reports already submitted to TBF – mostly from the recreational sportfishing community – this integration will expand our efforts, bringing in data from charter boats and helping to give TBF a more detailed understanding of billfish populations and their movements. This collaboration represents an exciting step forward in reducing administrative barriers while increasing the impact of data sharing and supporting the long-term health of billfish populations. This innovative system not only enhances the quality of billfish conservation efforts but also sets the stage for future research and collaborative citizen science projects.

For more information, check out the project page here.