Throughout the 21-year history of this tagging program, we have had some pretty rare and exciting tag recovery reports. For example, back in August, 2015, a tag was removed from a dolphinfish fillet in a Whole Foods in Omaha, Nebraska! We have also received reports from beach combers who have found tags on different beaches or barrier islands. While these reports do not constitute valid recoveries, they still provide some information about the fishery and tagging activity. Recently,
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24 pound female recovered off Venezuela.
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we had another unique report but it was discovered with a modern twist. Chef and angler Cedric Taquin of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, was looking through the Instagram feed of a Venezuelan angler, Captain Luis Ferrera, and noticed Captain Ferrera had posted a tagged dolphin in the past. We reached out to Captain Ferrera and he confirmed that he caught the 24 lb female on February 2nd, 2019, while fishing La Guaria Bank, VZ. The image he shared on Instagram was posted the day of the event! We did not learn of this recapture, however, until last month. The fish was actually tagged by Captain Jeff Salter while fishing aboard Lady Helen off South Florida on June 21st, 2018. Captain Salter measured a fork-length of 19" which puts the growth of this female at 26" in 226 days or .12" per day. This is the second recovery for our program off Venezuela but the first from our network via Instagram. Another exciting recovery we received recently via WhatsApp was from Lixandra Mayeli Alcequiez of Cabrera, Dominician Republic, whose father recaptured a fish tagged and released by Captain Don Gates and the Killin' Time II fishing team last July off Cudjoe Key, Florida. Lixandra's father reported the fish weighed 16 pounds gutted and was caught at a fish aggregating device (FAD) 10 miles off Playa del Puerto, DR, on 2.20.2022. Captain Gates measured 18" to the fork. This is our third recovery from the Keys/South Florida region to the north coast of the Domincian Republic. With these two new international recoveries, the Dolphinfish Research Program has documented 22 movements from the U.S East Coast to locations throughout the Western Central Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. Click here to read more.
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A special thanks goes out to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), MARTEC in Costa Rica, Instituto Publico de Investigacion de Acuicultura y Pesca Ecuador, Instituto del Mar del Peru, and the Comite Regional de Productores y Procesadores de Mahi for providing support for our tagging program to expand to Ecuador this past month. We provided 1000 tags in 40 kits to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to distribute to anglers in Ecuador and Peru. We are also pleased to report that we deployed two mark-report popup archival satellite tags (mrPAT) tags on a 47" female and 48" male during our tagging work. These deployments mark the first time dolphinfish have been tagged and released with satellite tags in Ecuadorian waters. Click here, or the image below, to learn more.
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| Try Non-Offset Circle Hooks When Fishing For Dolphin
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The Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) promotes the use of non-offset circle hooks while trolling, sight-casting, or bailing dolphin. Our research suggests that the use of non-offset circle hooks increases the survivability of a fish if released or if it shakes off the line while being reeled in. We use these in the field when our intent is to deploy conventional and satellite tags on dolphinfish because these jigs consistently hook fish in the lip or lower jaw, which is the preferred hooking location to ensure a fish is released in good health. Since 2018, we have partnered with Bird of Prey Fishing Tackle, the manufacturer of these jigs, to provide free and purchasable jig packs. Click here to purchase a pack today to use these non-offset circle hook jigs while you fish for dolphin.
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Help Support Our 2022 Research Effort
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A special thanks to everyone who has contributed to our tagging program since the beginning of our 2021/2022 fundraising campaign. With your support, we were able to start 2022 strong and, to date, we have already shipped out 167
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tagging kits. Our goal is to distribute 450 kits and 6,000 tags in 2022. While we have an operational budget to begin the year, we still need support to help us fund our online tagging map (click here), acquire additional satellite tags to deploy on adult dolphinfish and wahoo in 2022, 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 state, federal, and international levels. Help the DRP expand in 2022. Click the icons below to shop or donate to support our program.
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