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Killin' Time II heading offshore in style with a custom Guy Harvey boat wrap that serves as a symbol of inspiration as well as dedication to the conservation and research of dolphinfish.
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When you set out from Cudjoe Key, FL, aboard Killin’ Time II, with Captain Don Gates, you are destined to tag and release a small dolphin. Three weeks ago, Captain Gates along with two of his closest fishing aficionados, Allen Lewis and Darryl Williams, tagged and released their 5,000th dolphin! Captain Gates, Lewis, and Williams have been fishing the Keys for the past 35 years, and they began tagging for our program in 2002. Along the way, Captain Gates has recruited more than 100 anglers to help his team surpass this incredible milestone. In total, 218 of their tagged fish have been recovered throughout the Western Central Atlantic Ocean, including international movements to St. Kitts and Nevis, the northern coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and several to the Bahamas. While documenting the movements and life history patterns of dolphin are their main goals, the Killin’ Time II fishing team prides itself on exposing new anglers to the proper methods of tagging and releasing small dolphin, the fun involved in tagging, and the reasons to get involved in tagging. Hence, in 2018, we documented Killin’ Time II surpass 3,000 tagged dolphin (click here for that video) and produced a short how-to-tag dolphin video (click here to watch) with outings sponsored by the team. In addition, for several years, the team assisted in educational DRP seminars with the Scouts of America at Florida Sea Base and sponsored outings to deploy CCA FL STAR tags, which only provided further evidence of their dedication to the craft of tagging, conservation and research of dolphin. Lastly, Gates, along with a growing number of DRP taggers, participate in our vessel tracking program to allow our group to collect additional data on fishing effort and activity. His vessel's data allowed us to submit a powerful statement to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) that documented a five-year decline (2017-2021) in his dolphin tagging and catch statistics, which allowed us to call for additional management and conservation measures to bring back dolphin abundance. Click here to read that public comment that we submitted to the SAFMC. Killin’ Time II’s dolphin data is a comprehensive offshore private recreational angler dataset that we are replicating with additional program participants. Click here to watch the latest video that showcases this amazing milestone and click here to examine in detail how we utilize Killin’ Time II’s data in our comprehensive research on this species.
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Grady-White Boats Sponsored Tag Produces off North Carolina
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Last month, we reported that we deployed our program's first satellite tag in North Carolinian waters. On June 1st, the tag surfaced in the northeast distant waters after remaining on a 36" female for 29.1 days. The fish was caught on the morning of May 3rd while fishing aboard Dr. Iyke Blakemore's vessel, Marlin Gull, with Captain Kenny Midgett and mates Mark Schultz, Chris Whitley, Bryant Stokes, and Greg Jenkins. The Grady-White Boats-sponsored tag provided a glimpse into the potential movement pathway for subadult fish into the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. With a distance between tag and popup sites of 1,025.52 miles, the movement rate, based on a monitoring period of 29.1 days, was 35.24 miles per day. This is a major step forward in better understanding the movement dynamics of dolphinfish in North Carolinian waters and can help start to determine movement routes fish take from North Carolina to the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Sargasso Sea, Caribbean Sea, and Northeast Atlantic Ocean.
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June Recapture off North Carolina
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Tagging Details: Tagged and released by David Wamer aboard Wam-Jam with anglers Charlie Jamison and Mikell Reid on May 30th off Marathon, FL.
Recapture Details: Reported by Spencer Hudson of NC DNR, angler Walker Hudson aboard charter vessel Longer Days. Recaptured on June 15, 2024. With a distance between the tag and recovery site of 790.13 miles, the movement rate, based on 16 days at liberty, was 49.38 miles per day.
We received another North Carolina recapture yesterday (6.27.2024) with additional details pending. The fish was recaptured on 6.22
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Support Our Tagging Program and Research
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The Beyond Our Shores Foundation
is a 501(c)3 founded in 2017 to expand the Dolphinfish Research Program and research on data-deficient pelagic fish and fisheries. To date in 2024, BOSF has distributed 290 tagging kits or 2,403 tags to anglers throughout the region. Help our program to continue to expand tag distirbution. Tax-deductible donations can be made via the links below. Contact us for corporate sponsorship information if you would like your company to support our work.
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| | Eastern Tropical Pacific Research Partners
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