The recent reporting of the recovery of a tagged yellowfin tuna comes as a
surprise to fisheries biologists. The tag, sent from the National Research
Institute of Far Seas Fisheries in Shizuoka, Japan, was just received by
the S.C. Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Marine Resources Division.
The tagged fish measured about 68 inches, weighed approximately 189
pounds, and was captured on May 26, 2010 off the west coast of Africa off
Mauritania.
The fish was initially tagged by a volunteer angler participating in the
Marine Division's game fish tagging program on April 20, 2001 just south
of Cat Island in the Bahamas. At the time of tagging, the juvenile
yellowfin was just shy of 15 pounds.
This is the first recapture of a yellowfin tuna in the history of the
program, which began in 1974. "What makes this recovery exciting," said
Robert Wiggers, a DNR fisheries biologist who administers the tagging
program, "is that 151 yellowfin have been tagged and released by
volunteers, but none have been recovered until now." Wiggers added, "This
fish was at large for nine years, packed on about 174 pounds and was
recaptured close to 4,000 miles from where it was initially tagged."
As evident from this tag recovery, Atlantic yellowfin tuna are a highly
migratory species and thus are a target species for both domestic and
international fisheries. This fact should be of interest to recreational
anglers when considering the impacts on the overall population of such
fisheries.
For more about the DNR Marine Game Fish Tagging program check:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/tagfish/pdf/TaggingProgram2007.pdf
At
www.thespendless.com
we
help you spend less with over 1 Million New & Used Products.
Our online shopping at Spendless on Boating and Watersports gives you the best prices and quality
It's easy. Type in what your looking for
in the search box below and enjoy shopping. Can't find what your looking for?
Contact us at billie@thespendless.com
and we'll find those hard to find items for you.
It's secure, fast & easy shopping.
Third-round results posted from S.C.
Governor's Cup Billfishing Series
The third tournament in the 23rd season of the South
Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series, the Carolina Billfish Classic
took place June 22-25 at Toler's Cove Marina in Mt. Pleasant and
Georgetown landing in Georgetown.
A total of 31 boats participated in the tournament
with 56 billfish releases, including six blue marlin, six white marlin and
44 sailfish. No billfish were landed. Wallace Jenkins, Series program
director for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said: "Based
on the pictures I saw there were some very large blue marlin released and
the catch rate was phenomenal with an average of 1.8 billfish released/
boat. That's a good days fishing just about anywhere in the country this
time of year."
The Outstanding Billfish Boat was awarded to Caramba,
owned by Robert Faith of Charleston, and captained by Dale Lackey. The
boat crew secured their first place win with the catch and released of one
blue marlin and six sailfish, accruing 1,800 total release points.
Second place for Outstanding Billfish Boat went to
Sportin' Life, owned by Manly and Graham Eubank. Mike Glaesner captained
the boat, which caught and released one blue marlin, one white marlin and
three sailfish to accumulate 1,500 release points.
Rascal took third place for Outstanding Billfish Boat.
The boat is owned by Norman Pulliam and captained by Mark Rogers, and the
boat crew caught and released one blue marlin and four sailfish to earn
1,400 release points.
Outstanding Dolphin was awarded to Lenny Cannon for
his 52.2-pound dolphin caught aboard Full Pull, owned by John Floyd and
captained by Charles Moore.
Angler Matt Key, fishing aboard El Tejano, won the
Outstanding Wahoo award with a 27.8-pound fish. The boat is owned by John
Hill and captained by David Redd.
Jeff Jones won the Outstanding Tuna award aboard Syked
Out, owned by David Sykes and captained by Dan Woody, for his 12.8-pound
Blackfin.
First place for Outstanding Lady Angler went to Amy
Bennett for releasing one white marlin aboard Rodeo. Second place for
Outstanding Lady Angler went to Cissy Bonifay, fishing aboard El Tejano,
for a 19.8-pound dolphin.
Six-year-old Cordes Johnson won first place for
Outstanding Youth Angler for a 3.8-pound dolphin caught aboard Petrel.
Two tournaments remain in this year's Series:
* The Charleston Angler MEGADOCK Billfishing
Tournament, July 6-9 at the City Marina in Charleston
* Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament, July 27-30 at the
Edisto Marina on Edisto Island
For more information on the South Carolina Governor's
Cup Billfishing Series, contact Wally Jenkins at (843) 953-9835 or
JenkinsW@dnr.sc.gov, and Amy
Dukes at (843) 953-9365 or
DukesA@dnr.sc.gov. You can also visit the website at
http://govcup.dnr.sc.gov/ to learn more about the South Carolina
Governor's Cup Billfishing Series, get information about the individual
tournaments, and to keep up with this year's standings.
Boats participating in the Series amass points for
billfish either landed or caught and released. Tagging is optional and not
required for Series points. Anglers compete for four major awards:
Outstanding Billfish (single heaviest billfish), Outstanding Billfish Boat
(most accumulated points) and Outstanding Billfish Conservationist (most
points for released fish), and the Blue Water Conservation Award (most
accumulated tag and release points for dolphin, wahoo, and yellowfin
tuna). At present, the Series is being lead by Reel Passion, owned by
William Ingram and captained by Gary Richardson, with a total of 4,075
release and participation points.
By encouraging live tag and release, the Series has
focused attention on the population status of Atlantic billfish and
encouraged conservation of all marine resources.
Second round results from the SC
Governor's Cup Billfishing Series
The second tournament in the 23rd season of the South Carolina Governor's
Cup Billfishing Series took place at the 44th Annual Georgetown Blue
Marlin Billfish Tournament over the Memorial Day
weekend at the Georgetown Landing Marina. Amy Dukes, Series Tournament
Coordinator for S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR), noted that a
total of 33 boats participated in the tournament with 45 billfish releases
including 6 blue marlin, 30 white marlin and 5 sailfish. No billfish were
landed. "There is an incredible billfish bite right now off the South
Carolina Coast! There were more billfish released during this weekend's
Georgetown Tournament then have been released in the previous 23 Series
tournaments hosted in Georgetown."
A special recognition award, the Wallace Pate Trophy, was presented by the
Georgetown Landing Blue Marlin Tournament to Jim Johnston for all his
years of billfish conservation. Wallace Jenkins, Series Program Director
for DNR, added that "Johnston has participated in all of the 44 Georgetown
Tournaments and was a major contributor in establishing billfish release
practices during fishing tournaments that are still in use today."
The Outstanding Billfish Boat was awarded to Sportin'Life, owned by Manly
and Graham Eubank of Charleston and captained by Mike Glaesner. The boat
crew caught and released a white marlin on Thursday, and surged to a
victory by releasing two blue marlin and another white marlin on Saturday
to accrue 1,800 total release points.
Second place for Outstanding Billfish Boat went to Daymaker, owned by Mark
Daniels. Jay Weaver captained the boat, which caught and released four
white marlin and one sailfish to accumulate 1,400 release points.
Miss Wy IV won third place for Outstanding Billfish Boat. The boat is
owned by Ed Holder and captained by Matt Wilkinson and the boat crew
caught and released one blue marlin and two white marlin to earn 1,200
release points.
Outstanding Dolphin was awarded to Billy Monckton for his 38.4-pound
landed dolphin caught aboard Mirage, owned by Bill Monckton and captained
by Homer.
Angler Charlie Byars fishing on the Reel Patience won the Outstanding
Wahoo award, with a 12.6-pound fish. The boat is owned by James Zachrich
and captained by Stefan Patrick.
Wil Thornhill won the Outstanding Tuna award aboard Bench Mark, owned by
Stephen Davis and captained by Bobby Garmany, for his 10.0-pound Bonita.
First place for Outstanding Lady Angler went to Holly McAlhany for
releasing two white marlin aboard Syked Out. Second place for Outstanding
Lady Angler went to Amy Bennett on Rodeo who also caught and released two
white marlin. Keenan Grayson won third place Outstanding Lady Angler
aboard On The Hook for her 27.0-pound dolphin catch.
Six-year-old Rance Jennings won first place for Outstanding Youth Angler
for an 11.2-pound dolphin catch aboard Sadie Beth. Second place for
Outstanding Youth Angler went to John Taylor aboard Caramba for catching a
6.6-pound dolphin.
Three tournaments remain in this year's Series:
* Carolina Billfish Classic, June 22 - 25 at Toler's Cove in Mt. Pleasant
* HMY/Viking MEGADOCK Billfishing Tournament, July 6 - 9 at the City
Marina in Charleston
* Edisto Marina Billfish Tournament July 27 -30 at the Edisto Marina on
Edisto Island
For more information on the South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing
Series contact Wally Jenkins at (843) 953-9835 or
JenkinsW@dnr.sc.gov and Amy
Dukes at (843) 953-9365 or
DukesA@dnr.sc.gov . You can also visit the website at
govcup.dnr.sc.gov/ to learn more about the South Carolina Governor's
Cup Billfishing Series, get information about the individual tournaments
and to keep up with this year's standings.
Boats participating in the Series amass points for billfish either landed
or caught and released. Tagging is optional and not required for Series
points. Anglers compete for four major awards: Outstanding Billfish
(single heaviest billfish), Outstanding Billfish Boat (most accumulated
points) and Outstanding Billfish Conservationist (most points for tagged
or released fish), and the Blue Water Conservation Award (most accumulated
tag and release points for dolphin, wahoo, and yellowfin tuna). At
present, the Series is being lead by Reel Passion, owned by William Ingram
and captained by Gary Richardson, with a total of 3,250 release and
participation points.
By encouraging live tag and release, the Series has focused attention on
the population status of Atlantic billfish and encouraged conservation of
all marine resources.
For an overview of South Carolina trends read the weekly updated fishing
report for the location you are interested in at
http://www.scfishingreport.com/.
Access it by clicking the desired location on the map. Second, for more details
check the message board for that location by clicking the "Message Board" link
beside the weekly fishing report. Here you can read the most recent updates
posted by anglers. Logging in allows you to post questions and respond to topic
threads.
Stay informed with South Carolina Travelers
weekly newsletter. Know where the fish are biting~ Join our mailing list
by sending a blank email to:
sctraveler@sctraveler.com
Call
Lake Marion Freelance Web Developer, Writer, Photographer to see how I can
bring your business more business.
