This past month, and for the first time since the earlier years of our tagging program, DRP personnel embarked on a dedicated tagging expedition to the Bahamas. Our goal was to deploy up to four popup satellite archival transmitters (PSATs) on adult dolphinfish (>36" fork-length) off of the Abaco Islands. Unfortunately, we did not encounter any dolphinfish large enough to tag and release with satellite tags after three full days of fishing. We did, however, tag and release eight dolphinfish that ranged in size from 24-36" fork-length fishing from Cherokee Sound to off of Hope Town. While our PSAT deployment goals were not met on this trip, the amazing experience fishing with Abaco Down Deep Fishing Charters inspired us to focus on working to return next spring to try again. We would like to thank the anonymous private donor that made this trip possible. To learn more about our ongoing research in the Bahamas click here and to request tags to tag small dolphinfish in this region click here.
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Research Showed North Carolina Dolphinfish Size Decline
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In April, researchers from the Nature Conservancy, North Carolina State University, and the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries published a study that observed a negative signal in the population dynamics of dolphinfish that occur seasonally in North Carolina (NC) offshore waters. The authors found a substantial increase in effort is required to catch a large "citation-sized" Dolphinfish off NC, and the results suggested that the abundance of large individuals of this species has declined off NC. This is the fifth scientific paper in the last seven years to document negative or declining attributes associated with dolphinfish in the Western Central Atlantic Ocean (WCA). In 2018, Lynch et al. suggested a downward trend in the relative abundance of dolphinfish in the region, and in 2022, Merten et al. documented the extent of uncertainty in international dolphinfish landings. In 2024, Damiano et al. further modeled the relative abundance of dolphinfish in the WCA and found a decline in recent years, while Rudershausen et al. (2024) observed a decrease in dolphinfish sizes (i.e., total lengths) caught in NC sportfishing tournaments over recent decades. The results of the study published this past month is consistent with the increase in effort we have had to exert to catch large dolphinfish (e.g., >18 pound) to qualify for satellite tag deployments off Puerto Rico and also with the fact that we have never caught a qualifying tagging subject fishing off the Lower Keys on average 5 times each June since 2018.
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In 2021, our group set out to research wahoo. The decision to focus time on this species was born out of the lack of information and knowledge presented on the species' life history, movements, and population dynamics during the most recent revision of the Dolphin-Wahoo Management Plan by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council as well as during recent Caribbean Fishery Management Council meetings as the CFMC works to better manage the resource in the U.S. Caribbean Sea. Due to these factors and the critical importance of the fishery to offshore recreational anglers, we got to work and are excited to announce that our first scientific paper from our wahoo work was recently published by the Caribbean Journal of Science. Click here to read more. To request tags to tag small wahoo click here.
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Killin' Time II Showcased in
Saltwater Sportsman Film
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If you follow our research and tagging program, you certainly know of Don Gates and the Killin' Time II fishing team, whose support and participation has been integral to the abundance and success of gathering data for our research. If you missed past articles on this team's participation in our program, the following is a brief summary. Last June, Killin' Time II surpassed 5,000 dolphinfish tagged for our program (click here to read that article). In 2022, we used their catch and effort data from the Florida Keys to submit a detailed public comment to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) (click here to read) which documented an increase in effort to catch a fewer amount of dolphinfish over a six-year time period. Overall, their volunteer participation in our tagging program has resulted in 210 recaptures throughout the region. So, when we were approached by Salt Walter Sportsman to feature our program, we pointed them to showcase Killin' Time II's amazing contribution to dolphinfish research with hopes that it will inspire others to get involved. A special thanks goes out to Shawn Bean for creating this amazing piece. Click here to watch the video.
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Support Our Work - Shop or Donate!
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Support Our Research in 2025
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For the past seven years, we have built a 501(c)(3) known as the Beyond Our Shores Foundation to manage and expand an international tagging program on dolphinfish and focus on other key fisheries research topics throughout the western central Atlantic and eastern tropical Pacific Oceans. With the support of hundreds of private donors and several key corporate sponsors, the Dolphinfish Research Program continues to compile new movement records and data on dolphinfish in the Western Central Atlantic and Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. As of today, 37,737 dolphinfish have been tagged for the DRP and 868 recaptures have been recorded. In addition, 125 satellite tags have been deployed on dolphinfish and eleven on wahoo. Collectively, these data have been used to publish 17 scientific articles, and the data is publicly available at dolphintagging.com/map. With three key scientific papers in preparation on dolphinfish growth, detailed regional movement dynamics, and catch and effort as well as our ambitious distribution goals this year (400 kits and 5,000 tags), we need your support to achieve these key outcomes.
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Help the DRP expand in 2025. 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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