Exempted Fishing Permits for East Coast Deep-Set Buoy Gear
NMFS issued 7 Exempted Fishing Permits (EFP) for vessels to fish for BAYS tunas (bigeye, yellowfin albacore, skipjack) and swordfish in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic East Coast. Six vessels are part of the Deepwater Horizon Pelagic Longline Bycatch Reduction Project; using funds from Gulf Restoration, oil spill settlement. The 6 vessels fishing only in the Gulf are pelagic longline vessels that voluntarily do not fish for 6 months a year because they are paid from Restoration funds. Gear options include deep-set buoy gear or greenstick gear. The vessel that also fishes off Florida’s East
Atlantic Billfish, Swordfish, and Tunas Landings Update
NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Atlantic swordfish, billfish, and tunas, which includes recreational billfish and bluefin tuna landings from January 1st through June 30, 2020. But swordfish and non-bluefin tuna landings are for the period of January 1 through July 31, 2020. In general, reported landings are down compared to the same time in 2019, except for Northern Albacore, whose landings are skyrocketing compared to 2019. Swordfish landings are almost exactly the same as last year, with an uptick in commercial bycatch offset by decreases in commercial and recreational targeted landings. Billfish are currently on par to stay
2020 Billfish Recaptures Update
The most important data received through TBF’s Tag & Release Program is recapture data. A recapture occurs when a tagged billfish is caught by a second angler subsequent to the tagging and release of a fish. Recapture data contributes toward gaining a better understanding of the species age and growth rates by comparing the reported estimated weight at the time of tagging with the estimated weight upon recapture with consideration given to the amount of time between the two events. Recapture data also contributes to understanding a species possible site or area fidelity, if tagged and recaptured in the
2019 Conservation Record
The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Program. We received over 11,000 new tag, release, and recapture records for billfish and tunas. These data are used by researchers and management organizations across the globe, helping us learn more about these great fish and how best to conserve them. Below is a link to a PDF of the final 2019 Conservation Record, including black marlin, blue marlin, sailfish, spearfish, striped marlin, swordfish, white marlin, bluefin tuna, and yellowfin tuna. 2019 Conservation Record Final This feat of citizen science would not be possible without the generous support of our Tag &
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
Atlantic Tuna and Swordfish Landings Updates
NOAA fisheries announced third quarter landing updates for bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, northern albacore, and swordfish. These landings include all fish landed commercially and recreationally by United States vessels in the Atlantic Ocean from January 1st through August 31st, 2019. The changes as compared to last year are summarized below: More detailed summaries of the 2019 third quarter landings updates for each individual fish are also included below: Swordfish: Bluefin Tuna: Other Tuna: For more information on billfish and sportfishing news, subscribe to our newsletter, become a member, or follow us on social media
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
Tagging Tuna with ICCAT and AOTTP
The Billfish Foundation is currently engaging in a research project with Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Tagging Program (AOTTP) in order to further the knowledge around lifecycles of yellowfin, bigeye, and skipjack tuna. This will be accomplished by working with recreational and commercial anglers to implement traditional ‘spaghetti’ tags into these different species of tuna. This research is very valuable and important to the multiple regional and national fisheries associated with these different species. For example, this work will be very important with the yellowfin tuna fishery in the northern Gulf of Mexico. On a base level, this research will
Tropical Tuna Taggers Needed!
Photo courtesy of Trey Russo/Miles Charlesworth
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 conventional and/or electronic
