TBF Welcomes New Staff

TBF welcomes T.J. Morrell to the team as our Science/Education Specialist. He will be responsible for showcasing the importance of tagging and releasing and leads in the development of educational materials and presentations. He joins us from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). T.J. is a South Jersey native and was exposed to fishing at an early age, eventually developing a passion for fish and the ocean. T.J. received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and his master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University. He began working with fish larvae at the University of Miami before eventually

2020 Conservation Record: Swordfish

The Billfish Foundation maintains the largest private tag and release database in the world, with 260,000 records by 150,000 anglers. In 2020 alone, TBF anglers and captains tagged, released, or recaptured 7,000 billfish and tuna across the world. Of these 7,000 new records, 169 were of swordfish. Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) are the only billfish species of the family Xiphiidae (as opposed to Istiophoridae). They are native to all oceans, but the vast majority of our records originate in the Atlantic. Information on how to identify a swordfish can be found on our youtube channel. Thank you to everyone that tagged

TBF Swordfish Data Represented at ICCAT Meeting

Through its 30-year old tagging program, supported by 190,000 voluntary angler-reported tag reports from around the world, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) assists scientists in gaining a better understanding of billfish’s life history characteristics, including growth, reproduction, yearly movement and survival.  Rare is it to receive tagging data from the Mediterranean Sea, but recent tagging by captsins Rudy and Samuel Urbain provided such a surprise. In March, Drs. Folio Garibaldi and George Stirpes presented swordfish tagging data at a meeting of the Swordfish Species Group, within the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) to help gain a better

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

Billfish Tagging 101 – en français

For all of our french speaking friends, learn how to tag billfish from John Brownlee and Capt Ray