Every dolphinfish tag deployment and reported recapture adds another data point and observation about the occurrence and movement of this iconic species throughout our oceans. At the end of September, Captain Roy Canada reported a Killin' Time II-tagged fish (tagged by Rich Benton) just north of Spanish Cay in the Bahamas. Captain Canada reported that the dolphin he was catching aboard MC2 were showing back up despite cooling water temperatures. A few days later, angler Timothy Ward, while fishing aboard Semana Fishing Charters, recaptured a fish tagged by Captain Charlene Brown and angler Eddie Maybury aboard Keeper. A week later, another recovery occurred aboard Good Hit Sportfishing, but this time it was reported by angler Jeff Jerzy while fishing only seven miles north of Tim Ward off Ft. Lauderdale. Jerzy's fish was tagged by angler Michelle Curtis off Big Pine Key while fishing aboard Killin' Time II on June 15th, 2020, the day before Captain Brown tagged and released their fish off Marathon, Florida, that was recovered by Ward. The common thread that links these recovery events together is that their tag, recovery, and growth attributes are similar to 18 other documented examples of what the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) has come to describe as
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Florida's semi-annual fall dolphin migration. Each of these recent dolphin recoveries (yellow stars in the image above) ranged from 107 to 115 days at large. In addition, each fish was tagged and released between June 12th and June 16th off the Lower Keys. Most importantly, each recovery further highlights the value of releasing small fish in early summer that can return through Florida's waters in just over three months during fall after packing on six to ten additional pounds! This is what we are referring to as Florida's semi-annual fall dolphin migration - the re-appearance of the same dolphin in Florida state waters after 3 to 5 months at liberty. While there are numerous scenarios in which these fish may have moved between tag and recovery sites, surface drifters (colored paths in image above) provide routes that can be realistically compared until more recoveries and/or dozens of geolocation tracks are acquired. To learn more about the potential movement locations and additional observations compiled through the participation of numerous fishing teams through the years that led to the description of this movement trend, click here.
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Catches of massive bull dolphin are exciting to report because, most often, they represent a state or tournament record, boat record, or angler record (click here for a table we maintain). For most that fish offshore, acquiring a coveted record, such as largest dolphinfish, is nothing short of spectacular and only a few will have the opportunity to ink their name somewhere in a record book. For scientific purposes, it is important to document landings of large individuals to examine seasonal, interannual, and decadal trends by location. As part of our annual tradition, we are excited to share our list of the top five largest bulls we observed through social media in the Western Central Atlantic Ocean in 2020. Weight is reported in pounds below. Note that La Calankita's fish is whole weight gutted, which points to the importance of gathering weight measurements of massive fish before they are
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| Rank | Vessel | Date | Location | Angler | Weight | | 1 | Backlash | 8/7/2020 | MD | Matt Wagner | 73.50 | | 2 | Fishmonger | 6/9/2020 | FL | Mrs. Becker | 73.30 | | 3 | Hook N Cook | 2/1/2020 | USVIs | Colt Cook | 63.70 | | 4 | Slay Family | 6/23/2020 | FL | Slay Family | 58.90 | | 5 | La Calankita | 1/21/2020 | PR | Emmanuel Markham | 53.00 | | |
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processed. Backlash's fish established a new tournament record at the White Marlin Open and is the third 72+ lb fish to be landed in Poor Man's Canyon off Maryland in the past two fishing seasons. Who knows, maybe in 2021, we will receive word that the long-standing world record, which still stands at 87 pounds, will be surpassed. After all, that is only 12.5 more pounds than Wagner's fish! Congratulations to each of the vessels and anglers for catching these massive bulls in 2020. Click here to read more about how these large bulls compare to last year's largest fish.
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Support Our Tagging Program in 2021.
Buy A New Performance Tee!
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The Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) is thrilled to offer our participants and supporters a performance fishing shirt that highlights our research effort based out of Tropic Star Lodge (TSL) in southwest Panama. This performance shirt features the DRP logo on the front left chest and a custom back graphic designed by Dr. Guy Harvey for our program. The graphic features a photo taken by Dr. Guy Harvey of the iconic TSL dock as DRP personnel outfit the vessels with conventional tags to initiate dolphinfish tagging efforts off southwest Panama. Proceeds from your purchase of this performance fishing shirt go directly to help support and advance our research and tagging program in 2021. To learn more about our research effort based out of TSL click here. Click here to shop.
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Fall Fundraising for 2021's Tagging Effort
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In 2020, we were fortunate to garner the support of 158 fishing industry entites, businesses, and private donors. Thank you all for your support of the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) in 2020! Since January, we have distributed 248 tagging kits (3,402 tags) to anglers throughout the Western Central Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, logged 1,170 tag deployments, and received 37 new recoveries. If you are reading this you likely fish offshore and you may have observed changes in the dolphinfish fishery throughout your fishing career. There are a host of issues and pending management changes to the WCA dolphinfish fishery given mounting scientific evidence regarding population changes and concerning anecdotal trends being voiced by anglers throughout the region. Our
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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. There are two ways to support our effort. You can purchase a kit, shirt, or hat in our online shop (click here to shop) or make a tax-deductible donation to the Beyond Our Shores Foundation (click here to donate). 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 14,334 tags around the world and logged over 5,730 tag deployments and 147 new dolphin movements.
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