Tag & Release Competition Rule Changes
Our tag and release competition is a popular and fun way for anglers/crews to be involved in supporting TBF and billfish science since 1990. With numerous categories that vary by ocean and species there are dozens of ways people can be recognized for their conservation efforts. After listening to all of you, starting on November 1, 2020 our tag and release competition will be amending several regional categories and adding a new category for swordfish. Please note, this does not apply for the current competition (November 1, 2019 until October 31, 2020). TBF will put more emphasis on tagging
Sailfish Conservation Record 2019
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were added to this database, representing an enormous amount of data to help us learn more about billfish life history. Of these over 11,000 new records in 2019, 5,280 were of sailfish, including an incredible 34 sailfish recaptures. 73.6% of sailfish were released without tags, while 26.4% were tagged. To learn more about how to identify a sailfish, check out our youtube channel! An incredible 1,385 sailfish were tagged
2019 Conservation Record: Swordfish
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were added to this database, representing an enormous amount of data to help us learn more about billfish life history. Of these over 11,000 new records in 2019, 304 were of swordfish, including 13 swordfish recaptures. 17.3% of swordfish were released without tags, while 82.7% were tagged. To learn more about how to identify a swordfish, check out our youtube channel! A total of 224 swordfish were tagged
2019 Conservation Record: Striped Marlin
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were added to this database, representing an enormous amount of data to help us learn more about billfish life history. Of these over 11,000 new records in 2019, 2,536 were of striped marlin, including 6 striped marlin recaptures. 84% of striped marlin were released without tags, while 16% were tagged. To learn more about how to identify a striped marlin, check out our youtube channel! 413 striped marlin were tagged
2019 Conservation Record: Black Marlin
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were added to this database, representing an enormous amount of data to help us learn more about billfish life history. Of these over 11,000 new records in 2019, 502 were of black marlin, including one black marlin recapture. 66% of black marlin were released without tags, while 34% were tagged. To learn more about how to identify a black marlin, check out our youtube channel! A total of 172 black
2019 Conservation Record: Spearfish
The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. In 2019 alone, over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records were added to this database, representing an enormous amount of data to help us learn more about billfish life history. Of these over 11,000 new records in 2019, less than 50 were of spearfish, and no spearfish were recaptured last year. Spearfish, in fact, are the most underrepresented billfish species in TBF’s entire dataset. As such, every tag, release, and recapture represents an incredibly significant piece of information, helping us
2019 Tag & Release Competition Winners
Each year The Billfish Foundation recognizes the best of the best in the billfishing community to acknowledge the significant effort they contribute to our Tag & Release Program and billfish conservation. Since its inception in 1990, the program has grown to accrue over 260,000 tag and release records to become the largest private billfish tagging database in the world. In the last year alone, TBF has collected over 11,000 records! The information gathered through tag and release efforts is invaluable to increase our understanding and better our management of billfish and preserve the sport we love. This is only possible
Tropical Tuna Tagging Program Extended
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is looking for anglers and crews interested in tagging tuna in the Northern Atlantic. TBF is working with scientists from the Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Tagging Program (AOTTP) to learn more about certain tuna species. This program, which is part of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), looks to study key aspects of bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna life history and movements in the Atlantic Ocean. The AOTTP partners with scientists and commercial and recreational tuna fishermen to tag tropical tuna with AOTTP-specific conventional and/or electronic tags throughout the Atlantic
International Tag and Release Competition Reminder
Anglers, captains, and mates! The TBF International Tag and Release Competition will end on October 31st, 2019. All fish caught after that date will not count towards this year’s competition. All tag and release cards must be input into the database or received by the TBF office by November 15th, 2019 to count. Unfortunately, we cannot make any exceptions to this rule in order to ensure that everyone receives a fair shot at the title! These rulings apply for the international competition as well as all regional competitions. If you have any questions or concerns about the competition, receipt
International Tag and Release Competition Update
TAGGING CAPTAIN: RELEASE CAPTAIN: TAGGING ANGLER: RELEASE ANGLER: TAGGING LADY ANGLER: RELEASE LADY ANGLER: TAGGING YOUTH ANGLER: RELEASE YOUTH ANGLER: Blue Marlin Tagging Captain: Sailfish Tagging Captain: Swordfish Tagging Captain: White Marlin Tagging Captain: Blue Marlin Tagging Angler: Sailfish Tagging Angler: Swordfish Tagging Angler: White Marlin Tagging Angler: Blue Marlin Release Captain: Sailfish Release Captain: Swordfish Release Captain: White Marlin Release Captain: Blue Marlin Release Angler: Sailfish Release Angler: Swordfish Release Angler: White Marlin Release Angler: Black Marlin Tagging Captain: Blue Marlin Tagging Captain: Sailfish Tagging Captain: Striped Marlin Tagging Captain: Black Marlin Tagging Angler: Blue Marlin