Made possible by a grant from the Guy Harvey Foundation
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U.S. Dolphin Management Update

Photo: Matilda Leijon @photobymatildaleijon

How many gaffers will you see this season? That is, indeed, a question many offshore anglers might have on their minds right now as spring and the warmer weather offshore fishing season begins along the U.S. East Coast. Over the last several years, the number of anecdotal and quantitative reports of fewer big fish, inferior quality sizes of schools, delayed seasonal start, shorter duration season, and higher incidence of smaller fish have far outweighed reports that the U.S. Atlantic dolphin fishery is trending in a positive direction. Given these observations, one would hope management would have been reactionary to the overwhelming amount of evidence pointing toward changes in western central Atlantic Ocean dolphin stock, but the most recent amendment to the strongest management plan in the WCA fell far short of what many had hoped would have been an opportunity to conserve dolphin. In this month's issue of our newsletter, we revisit where U.S. dolphin fishery stakeholders stand in relation to conservation and management opportunities to safeguard one of America's, and the WCA's, finest offshore fisheries. Click here to read an in-depth update of where we stand.

New Eastern Tropical Pacific Dolphin Movement

Photo: Jessica Harvey @travellingjessharvey

Our 37th conventional recovery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) occurred on March 20th, 2023. A commercial angler named Victor reported the fish and received a small cash reward for providing the capture details. The fish weighed 10.4 kilograms (22.92 pounds) gutted. This fish was actually one of the last fish our team tagged fishing aboard Miss Texas on our epic research day off Tropic Star Lodge on November 19th, 2022 (click here to learn about that day). The bull was 44" fork-length and, when based on length-weight measurements, likely weighed around 24-25 pounds. Based on seafood reports that we have gathered over the years for large fish, a large, gutted fish weighs 15-20% less than when sold whole. Therefore, at a gutted weight of 22.92 pounds, the whole weight was likely between 26.3 and 27.5 pounds, or a 45-46" fish. The importance here is that this is a growth record for an older fish, which shows minimal changes in length but rather larger changes in weight (2-3 pounds) given the time at liberty (121 days). This latest recovery is our 4th recovery within Costa Rican waters. Click here to learn more about our research in the ETP.

Thank you for your support!

A big congratulations go out to Casey and Michael of Massachusetts and Jarad of Rhode Island for winning the raffle items at our booth at the 2023 New England Saltwater Fishing Show held by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association in Providence earlier this month. We would also like to thank each of the 34 raffle participants for visiting us at the show and supporting our work. We were able to interact with hundreds of anglers from around the region and we distributed many tags to potential impactful taggers. This work is part of our intiative to increase the amount of data on dolphin in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Click here to learn more. A special thanks also goes out to the Guy Harvey Foundation for contributing the artwork by Dr. Guy Harvey that we raffled during the tradeshow.

Want to support our work? Buy a Tagging Kit!

Support Our Ocean Conservation Work

To date, we have already shipped out 149 tagging kits. Of those, five were wahoo tagging kits. In 2023, our goal is to distribute 450 kits and 6,000 tags. Last year, we distributed 6,763 tags in 501 kits to 399 anglers in 12 nations. You can help us achieve and exceed our 2023 goal by supporting our work. Your funds can also help fulfill our desire to implement a conventional tagging component for small wahoo throughout the western central Atlantic Ocean. While we have an operational budget, we still need your support to help us fund

our online tagging map (click here), acquire additional satellite tags to deploy on adult dolphinfish and wahoo in 2023, as well as increase our tagging kit and education supplies to meet our growing demand for tagging kits. Our tagging program is at the forefront of educating anglers, advancing discussions and actions surrounding conservation of the species, and gathering additional data to help inform data-driven decision-making at the state, federal, and international levels. Help the DRP expand in 2023. Click the icons below to shop or donate to support our program. A special thanks goes to Roger Muller of Muller Insurance for becoming our newest Gold Sponsor of the DRP. Mr. Muller and his firm have provided funding to sponsor the deployment of a satellite tag on a qualifying adult dolphinfish in 2023. Thank you for your support! More details to come!

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Dolphinfish Research Program, Beyond Our Shores Foundation PO BOX 3506
Newport, RI | 02840 United States

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Made possible by a grant from the Guy Harvey Foundation

Click here for webpage version and click here for PDF version

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