The Billfish Foundation’s Tag & Release Program is the cornerstone of our conservation and advocacy. We are proud to maintain the largest private tag and release database in the world, with over 260,000 records. Billfish tagging, and the recaptures that occur as a result, provides valuable scientific data to help us understand more about billfish life history, habitat utilization, migrations, and more. It is also used in stock assessments and to bolster global advocacy efforts for the conservation of these fish. Without tag and release, much of what we know about billfish today would still be a mystery. There are still many questions we have yet to answer about these elusive fish, making tag and release just as important as ever!
In the last decade, TBF has made great strides in conserving and researching billfish. These successes are in large part due to the tagging efforts of anglers, Captains, and mates that have dutifully sent in their tag and recapture data. As a small token of our appreciation, we wanted to highlight the top fifteen taggers between 2010 and 2019, including how many billfish they tagged in those ten years. Every tag matters, and the collective thousands of tags for which these anglers and Captains are responsible make an enormous difference!
Chris Sheeder
Years Active with TBF: 1997 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 3,221
Tag Localities: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Midway Islands
Ben Horning
Years Active with TBF: 2006 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,659
Tag Localities: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, USA, Cape Verde
Fin Gaddy
Years Active with TBF: 1994 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,414
Tag Localities: Mexico, USA (East Coast)
Ronnie Fields
Years Active with TBF: 2001 – 2018
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,304
Tag Localities: Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, USA, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands
Bouncer Smith
Years Active with TBF: 1994 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,180
Tag Localities: USA (Florida)
Gray Ingram
Years Active with TBF: 1992 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,086
Tag Localities: Bahamas, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Nova Scotia, USA, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands
Eddy Lawler
Years Active with TBF: 2009 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 1,030
Tag Localities: Cape Verde, Australia (Western Australia)
Gene Vander Hoek
Years Active with TBF: 1992 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 872
Tag Localities: Mexico, USA (Hawaii)
Laurent Sahyoun
Years Active with TBF: 2012 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 846
Tag Localities: Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Portugal
Christian Benazeth
Years Active with TBF: 1999 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 841
Tag Localities: Morocco, Portugal
Jimmy Kitchell
Years Active with TBF: 2010 – 2014
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 821
Tag Localities: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, British Virgin Islands
Laura Jessen
Years Active with TBF: 2008 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 743
Tag Localities: Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, USA, Australia
Tim Richardson
Years Active with TBF: 2000 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 739
Tag Localities: Australia (Queensland), Dominican Republic, Martinique, St. Lucia, US Virgin Islands
Bernabe Ruiz
Years Active with TBF: 1997 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 733
Tag Localities: Mexico
Ichiro Takahashi
Years Active with TBF: 1996 – present
Number of Tags from 2010-2019: 636
Tag Localities: Japan, Malaysia
Thank you so much to every Captain, mate, and angler that have tagged in the last decade. Your dedication to conservation enables us to fight for a future full of billfish and recreational fishing. Check out our website to learn more about the Tag & Release Program, as well as the yearly Tag & Release Competition. To purchase tagging equipment, or TBF apparel, be sure to check out our online shop. To stay up-to-date on all things billfish, subscribe to our monthly newsletter, become a member, and follow us on social media, @TheBillfishFoundation.
