Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Retention Adjustment

NOAA has announced big changes in daily retention limits for bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. These changes increase retention for those operating with an HMS Angling permit or an HMS Charter/Headboat permit when fishing recreationally in the Atlantic. Anglers may still catch/tag and release bluefin tuna of all sizes. Please note that these changes do not apply to the Gulf of Mexico, in which targeted fishing for bluefin tuna is prohibited. The adjusted limits go into effect on May 2, 2020, and extend through December 31, 2020, unless modified by a later action. Angling category and HMS

NMFS Removes Weak Hook Requirement

The 2011 required year-round use of weak hooks (15/0 carbon vs 16/0 steel for regularly used hook) by pelagic longline vessels fishing in the Gulf of Mexico was for 12 months, but it is now reduced to 6 months (Jan. – June). Longline hooked large bluefin tuna and blue marlin often broke off the weak hooks, reducing bycatch mortality, but a greater number of both white marlin and blue marlin were hooked.  The weak hook research indicates that most marlin were released within 5 minutes. In 2011, 175 white marlin were reported hooked by pelagic longline gear rigged

NMFS Weakens Gear Restrictions in Atlantic Ocean

The Gear Restricted Area (GRA) off Cape Hatteras implemented to reduce bluefin tuna bycatch by pelagic longline vessels now is open to the gear. The waters had been closed December through April, but the NMFS decided it is no longer needed under the Individual Bluefin tuna Quota (IBQ) management system. Two Gulf of Mexico Gear Restricted Areas closed during April and May since 2015 and the Northeastern Closed Area off of New Jersey closed during June since 1999, are now pelagic longline Monitoring Areas, allowing longlining to resume.  Fishing is to be monitored for three years based on vessel’s

NMFS Still Considering Gear and Quota Changes in Atlantic

Pelagic longline “research” decisions not yet issued that could authorize the gear to fish inside waters closed for 19 and 20 years off of Florida’s east coast, Charleston and in the Gulf of Mexico. The closures were implemented to reduce longline bycatch mortality of overfished swordfish, marlin, sailfish, tunas, sharks, sea turtles and marine mammals.  Swordfish stocks have recovered, but not the other species for which the waters were closed. If “longline research” inside the closed waters is authorized, it will be a clear indication the NMFS is writing- off the recovery of overfished billfish and the other species

TBF’s Top Achievements in 2019

With the year coming to a close, we thank you for your support, as we reflect on key achievements in 2019. Please consider joining TBF, if not already on board, or make a tax free year-end donation to support our critical billfish work. You can follow us on social media @thebillfishfoundation and be sure subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to stay updated on the latest billfish

Updated English and Spanish Atlantic HMS Compliance Guides

NOAA Fisheries has released updated compliance guides for recreational fishing of highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean. These guides include detailed anatomical figures, identification charts, and species-specific bag limits, landing information, and reporting requirements. The guides also include information on permitting, gear restrictions, sale restrictions, chartering, and tournaments. We recommend fishers keep copies of this guide on hand (either printed out or on their phones) when they’re out fishing. This way, you can ensure that you’re following all the necessary regulations to ensure that billfish and other highly migratory species are around for generations to come. A summary

TBF Tells NMFS NO To Harming Billfish and Sportfishing

As promised, below are TBF’s final comments for the NMFS initiative that will potentially decimate billfish populations and harm the recreational fishing community. As a reminder, the new NMFS proposal is twofold: To read more about the proposal, click here. Most importantly, to add your comments telling NMFS NO to loosening gear restrictions and harming our community, click here. Comments are due by midnight tonight, September 30th

New NMFS Initiatives Benefit Longlines and Harm Recreational Community

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing initiatives that once again ignore the recreational fishing community and do not benefit billfish conservation. NMFS seeks to reinvigorate commercial catch by loosening regulations on the longline fishery. This comes despite the fact that NMFS scientists and scientists of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have made it clear that fishing pressure must be reduced on overfished marlin and other species – or to use a precautionary fishing approach. These new adjustments are irresponsible and show a true lack of regard for our community, the economic capacity

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota Transferred

Fifteen metric tons of Atlantic bluefin tuna quota was transferred from the Reserve Category to the Harpoon Category, bringing the total tonnage for the category to 91 metric tons and leaving 98 metric tons in Reserve to be used as the agency thinks best over the balance of 2019. This transfer will be in effect through November 15, 2019 or until the Harpoon category quota is reached, whichever comes first, and only applies to those commercial vessels with an Atlantic tunas Harpoon category permit. This is at a time when some federally permitted Atlantic tunas dealers are not accepting

Recreational Billfish Landings Update

The table below provides preliminary 2018 (January 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018) landings in numbers of fish for Atlantic blue and white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and western Atlantic sailfish.  With most of the billfish tournaments are complete now, we can see as stated in a previous post, that the recreational community will be well below not only the 250 quota but should be below the 2017 numbers. Landings are compiled using self-reported angler reports from the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database; tournament landings from the Atlantic Tournament Registration & Reporting (ATR)