Atlantic Billfish Recreational Landings Update
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just released their preliminary 2018 (January 1, 2018 through June 30, 2018) landings in numbers of fish for Atlantic blue and white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and western Atlantic sailfish. While many tournaments had not happened yet, we still believe that the recreational community will be well below our annual quota for billfish landed. Landings are compiled using self-reported angler reports from the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database; tournament landings from the Atlantic Tournament Registration & Reporting system; catch card reports from North Carolina and Maryland; and individual
Successful Buccaneer Cup Despite Wild Weather
The Billfish Foundation was honored to join the 55th annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament as a benefiting charity this year. The tournament, held at Sailfish Marina in West Palm Beach, FL was a fun and well-organized event in our local south Florida community. Captains and their teams gathered at the marina Thursday evening for registration. Fishing commenced Friday, Jan. 26 and lasted through Saturday, and despite the extremely “sporty” conditions 26 boats braved the seas to catch sailfish. All participating teams were congratulated for facing strong winds and massive swells, extreme even for south Florida winters. It paid off considering over 400
