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Earlier this month, Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) personnel embarked on a tagging expedition to Puerto Rico to enhance data collection on dolphin. In two 8-hour outings, fishing off San Juan, Captain Daryl Wiley and our team tagged and released 17 dolphinfish and a blue marlin aboard Caribbean Fishing Academy, a fishing charter based in San Juan. These outings contribute to our
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The 48" bull prior to satellite tag deployment. Photo: Wess Merten
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grant work with the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC), which began in September 2024. During these recent outings, we were able to deploy three satellite tags. On the first outing, we deployed a satellite tag on a 34" female dolphinfish, and on day two, we deployed tags on a 48" male and a 125-pound blue marlin caught at the same location. We opportunistically deployed the tag on the
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The blue marlin prior to satellite tag deployment. Photo: Wess Merten
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blue marlin to investigate dolphin-marlin predator-prey relationships, given that both the bull and the blue were caught and released at the same location. As for the deployments on the dolphinfish, they mark the 12th and 13th of 30 toward our work with the CFMC. Our objective with our work with the CFMC is to focus conventional and satellite tag deployments in three key tagging zones: the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Thus far, through 15 outings over the past year, we have tagged and released 295 dolphinfish, deployed 13 satellite tags, and generated 17 movements between the aforementioned zones. This progress
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Conventional and satellite tagging results through 15 outings over the last 13 months with our work with the CFMC.
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contributes to our overall work to better understand the impacts of changing environments and fishing pressure on dolphinfish in the U.S. Caribbean Sea and beyond. To learn more about this work, click here.
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Reported releases from January 1, 2025, to October, 29, 2025, continue to have our program headed for a strong year of data collection throughout the Western Central Atlantic and Eastern Tropical Pacific Oceans (6th highest to date). In total, 104 named vessels have tagged and released dolphinfish in 2025. From these tag deployments, 42 new movements have been generated. These movements can be viewed at dolphintagging.com/map.
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25th Anniversary DRP Magazine
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Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP), and to celebrate this organizational milestone, we will print and distribute a special edition magazine to our supporters and participants. In this magazine, there are several articles from top program participants, research articles on key topics, as well as other relevant updates on the DRP's progress over the past 25 years. We are extremely proud to be sharing this important update with you and we hope you enjoy this special edition magazine!
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Shop DRP's 25th Anniversary Apparel!
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In recognition of the past 25-years of continuous data collection on dolphinfish through our tagging program, we worked with AFTCO to create a special edition 25th anniversary line of apparel. Help support our ongoing data collection and angler engagement by purchasing a AFTCO DRP samurai, air-o-mesh, or fleece shadow hooded sweatshirt by clicking any of the images below.
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Support our 25th Year of Tagging Activity!
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Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP). The last eight of those 25 years have been under the management of the Beyond Our Shores Foundation, a 501(c)(3) founded to manage and expand the DRP as well as focus on other key fisheries research topics throughout the Western Central Atlantic (WCA) and Eastern Tropical Pacific Oceans (ETP). Over the last eight years, we have received support from 410 donors, in which many of whom are recurring annual supporters. It is only through the support of these individuals, as well as our corporate sponsors and program participants, that the DRP continues to compile new movement records and data on dolphinfish in the WCA and ETP. As of today, 39,601 dolphinfish have been tagged for the DRP, and 904 recaptures have been recorded. In addition, 134 satellite tags have been deployed on dolphinfish and 12 on wahoo. Collectively, these data have been used to publish 17 scientific articles, and the data is publicly available at dolphintagging.com/map. With two key scientific papers in preparation on detailed regional movement dynamics and catch and effort, as well as our ambitious distribution goals for 2026 (400 kits and 5,000 tags), we need your support to achieve these key outcomes. In 2025, we have distributed 253
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tagging kits, or 3,043 tags, and we estimate by year's end we will distribute at least 50 more kits or 500 more tags. Help the DRP continue to engage anglers in research and conservation of dolphin and wahoo in 2026. Click the icons below to shop or donate to support our program.
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| | Eastern Tropical Pacific Research Partners
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