Between the Western Central Atlantic Ocean (WCA), where our tagging program has been active since 2002, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), where our program expanded with funding provided by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation two years ago, there are stark contrasts in oceanography, environmental variability, and pelagic habitat. Last year, with field work based out of Tropic Star Lodge, we began to investigate how adult male and female dolphinfish vertical movement patterns off Panama compare to data collected on dolphinfish in the WCA since 2005. Many factors, including the productivity of surface waters, patterns of upwelling, the presence and absence of shallow oxygen minimum layers and differences in temperature, ocean currents, and the existence of holopelagic algae may influence differences in how adult dolphinfish behave between these two oceans. All are observations that have never been concurrently documented for this species. While this work is certainly exciting on the water (highlights from last year's tagging trip below), data analysis and advancing
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scientific knowledge of this species to conserve it for generations to come is our driving force. Upon initial comparison of maximum depth per dive for both fish, habitat use appeared limited in scale. The vast majority of all dives were between 20% and 40% of the maximum depth visited for both fish (96.8 and 125.1 meters) and the female exhibited a less structured diving pattern than the male, which repeatedly and
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more frequently dove to intermediate depths (30-60 meters). A special thanks to Collin Glaser, a student at Roger Williams University, for processing tag 175818 as part of his internship with the Beyond Our Shores Foundation this past semester. To read more about these preliminary results click here.
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Dolphinfish Movements in the
Eastern Pacific Ocean off Mexico
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New research published in the journal Animal Biotelemetry documents, for the first time, detailed horizontal and vertical movement patterns of adult dolphinfish tagged and released off of Baja California (WBC) and Oaxaca, Mexico (OAX). The lead author, Dr. Chris Perle of Florida State College at Jacksonville, along with collaborators, used new analytical approaches to estimate dolphinfish locations from geolocating satellite tags as well as the vertical movements of the species. The study, funded in full by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, suggests possible annual movements from OAX west and then north to WBC in summer/fall, then south and east back to OAX in winter. It also suggests that dolphinfish can engage in daily and reverse daily vertical movement strategies, that movements may differ between sub-regions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and also that regional differences in water column temperatures present environmental variability to migrating fish. Furthermore, the study documented a new record depth of 262 meters and highlighted the pelagic red crab, Pleuronocodes planipes, as the preferred prey of the species in the study zone. The study concluded that more directed studies are needed in the EPO in order to establish or refute reproductivity mixing of dolphinfish from Peru to California. To read the open access article click here.
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| New Florida Dolphinfish Recapture
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Our 38th recovery for 2020 just came in courtesy of Captain Chase Cornell who reported he caught the 26" fish 8 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet on Monday. This represents Captain Don Gates and the Killin' Time II fishing team's 22nd recovery of the year from 359 tagged fish. This represents a 6.1% recovery rate for fish tagged and released by this fishing team in 2020.
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| Ways to Fund Our Tagging Program
and Research in 2021.
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| 1. Make a Tax-Deductible Donation
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| 2. Support our Tagging Program on #GivingTuesday December 1st, 2020
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| 4. Buy Tags or Tagging Program Apparel
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Help Fund 2021's Tagging Effort
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In 2020, we were fortunate to garner the support of many fishing industry entites, businesses, and private donors. Thank you all for your support of the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) in 2020! Now, we are beginning our effort to fund our 2021 tagging effort and research. Below, we have compiled a list of reasons you should contribute to this research program:
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- You like catching fish as opposed to just riding a boat and watching baits skip along the surface
- You enjoy carrying fish home to eat
- You have children or grandchildren who you want to enjoy catching dolphin
- You want to learn about dolphin habitat use and movements
- You are a charter that targets dolphin
- Your restaurant serves dolphin
- You wonder where the fish go when they leave your area and wonder when they will be back
- You like participating in fisheries research
- You believe that you have a responsibility as a steward of our natural resources and want to ensure the health of the dolphin stock for future generations
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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 level. Help the DRP continue documenting movement and population trends of wild dolphin in our oceans in 2021 by supporting us today.
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