We have come to the end of 2025, which marks eight years of running the Beyond Our Shores Foundation, a 501(c)(3), to continue and expand the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP).
In 2025, DRP personnel embarked on 24 field outings with 9 different fishing teams in 10 fishing zones between 6 nations; conducted 2 seminars; deployed 27 satellite tags; published 2 scientific manuscripts; and issued 12 DRP monthly newsletters and 9 short videos. Next year marks the 25th year of conducting research with the public through this tagging program. Your engagement in data collection associated with this tagging program has allowed our team to contribute new scientific information on dolphinfish movements along the U.S. East Coast, in The Bahamas, and around the northeast Caribbean Sea, as well as on population genetic studies, oceanographic associations, mortality, fishery dynamics, population trends, and growth.
We know you value our scientific contributions to those topics and enjoy contributing to our research. Please give what you can to help our program continue to engage anglers in research on dolphinfish and offshore fisheries. Donations are fully tax-deductible and can be made by donating to the Beyond Our Shores Foundation via check ( click here), paypal ( click here), stripe ( click here), or through our Facebook Fundraiser campaign ( click here). You can also buy a DRP t-shirt, hat, or tagging kit by clicking here. A very special thanks to those who have already stepped up to support the program for 2026!
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2025 DRP Performance Metrics (through 12/18/25)
- 3,198 tags in 261 kits were distributed to 166 anglers in 7 nations
- Continued youth tagging with the Scouts of America; 43 tagged
- 2,041 total tags deployed (2,028 dolphinfish, 7 tuna, 2 wahoo, 2 blue marlin, 1 sailfish, 1 pompono dolphin), 46 conventional recaptures generated (46 dolphinfish)
- 17 PSATs deployed in Eastern Tropical Pacific, 5 in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, 5 in the Caribbean Sea on Dolphinfish
- 1 PSAT deployed on wahoo off North Carolina; 12th since Fall 2021'
- 1 PSAT deployed on a blue marlin off Puerto Rico
2025 DRP Highlights by Month
Below are notable highlights generated by anglers participating over the past 12 months of research associated with the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP).
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Expansion: With funding from the Guy Harvey Foundation, additional sponsors of the Beyond Our Shores Foundation, and in partnership with Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, our tagging program continued our work off Guatemala in January 2025. We worked with the fleet to deploy 5 satellite tags and tag a total of 8 dolphinfish in 3 days of fishing. Click here to watch the video update.
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March/April 2025
Significant Movement: In March, the first NC-PR recovery and 8th from the U.S. East Coast to the north coast of the Greater Antilles occurred and was verified. The fish, tagged and released aboard Marlin Gull, grew from a tiny 16" 1-lb dolphinfish to a tackle-testing 19.5-lb gaffer. Its recovery further highlights the interconnectivity of dolphinfish throughout the region and the benefits anglers reap when small dolphinfish are released.
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Expansion: In April, for the first time since the earlier years of our tagging program, DRP personnel embarked on a research expedition to deploy up to four popup satellite archival transmitters (PSATs) on adult dolphinfish (>36" fork-length) off of the Abaco Islands. We tagged and released dolphinfish that ranged in size from 24"-36" in fork-length, fishing from Cherokee Sound to off of Hope Town. Click here to watch a short film.
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May/June 2025
Significant Movement: An 18″ fish that was tagged and released at a lobster pot close to the shipping lanes off Rhode Island aboard Calm Chaos was recaptured as a 34″ ~12.5-pound fish 120 nautical miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the NOAA weather buoy 41010. The total estimated growth for this fish was 16″ (or ~11 pounds) and showed that small fish released off of Rhode Island can return to the U.S. East Coast as a gaffer in less than a year. Click here to read about this recapture.
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Expansion:
Grady-White Boats of Greenville, North Carolina, was the first fishing industry company to provide financial support for the Dolphinfish Research Program. Their support began in 2006. In May, the company supported a satellite tagging expedition out of Beaufort, North Carolina, to help support our program's satellite tracking objectives for dolphinfish. Click here to watch a film created by Rising Tide Film supported by Grady-White Boats.
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July/August 2025
Publication: In 2021, our group set out to study 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. In July, our first scientific paper from our wahoo work was published by the Caribbean Journal of Science.
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DR Research Update: In 2017, we began monitoring our tagging program's top tagging teams for every outing they embarked on using Pelagic Data System vessel tracking devices. On July 6th, 2023, we began collecting catch statistics from artisanal anglers in the Dominican Republic (DR) for compensation per report. In August, we provided a comparison of dolphinfish fishing activity between the Florida Keys and the south coast of DR, where we have monitored two vessels for every outing for two years, as well as a group of 2-3 vessels that have periodically submitted reports for the past year. Click here to learn more.
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September/October 2025
Expansion: In 2024, our program initiated routine spring and fall trips to fish offshore North Carolina. Through eight outings between 2024 and 2025, our team has tagged and released 212 dolphinfish aboard Marlin Gull. From these deployments, five recaptures have been generated, and we have deployed five satellite tags on dolphin and one on a wahoo. In September, we provided an update on this research. Click here to read more.
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Expansion: In October, 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, our team tagged and released 17 dolphinfish and a blue marlin aboard Game Day. These outings contribute to our 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. Click here to read more.
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November/December 2025
Dolphinfish Satellite Tag Deployments: 12 PSATs deployed on dolphinfish (37" to 53") and 21 total (9" to 53") tagged with conventional tags off TSL. Click here to read more.
TSL Tagging Expedition Made Possible by: Tropic Star Lodge, the Guy Harvey Foundation, and supporters of the Beyond Our Shores Foundation.
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Publication: On December 5th, 2025, our program's 18th scientific publication was published in the journal Fisheries Research. The article details the growth of dolphinfish through tagging and otolith data for fish ranging in size from 16" to 58" fork-length. Click here to read more.
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Support the DRP in 2026
We ask you to contribute what you can today to support the Dolphinfish Research Program in 2026. 2025 was a great year for our tagging program thanks to our loyal sponsors, supporters, and participants. As a leader in public engagement in research and conservation of dolphin, your donation will advance our expanding organization by helping to purchase more tags to distribute to anglers, bolster our education programs and materials, and improve fisheries data collection among recreational, for-hire, and small-scale commercial fishermen. Help the DRP continue documenting movement and population trends in our oceans in 2026 by supporting us today. There are many ways to support our effort. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the Beyond Our Shores Foundation (click here to donate), donate via our Facebook Fundraising Campaign (click here to donate), or purchase a kit, shirt, or hat in our online shop (click here to shop). The Beyond Our Shores Foundation, a 501(c)(3), was formed in 2017 to help support the growth of the DRP, and since then, we have distributed 40,029 tags around the world to 2,375 anglers and logged over 15,921 tag deployments and 325 new conventional dolphin movements.
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Request Your Kit for 2026
From now until the end of 2026, our goal is to distribute tagging kits to 300 individual anglers. If you are new to the program or need more tags, please request your kit today. Click here to request a kit. Interested in purchasing your kit to help support the program? Please click here.
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| | 2025 Year-End Award Sponsors
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| | 2025 Federal and State Grant Partners
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| | 2025 ETP Research Partnerships
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