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Club Nautico de San Juan’s International Billfish Tournament, a renowned event with a deep history of billfish lore and legendary characters, holds an interesting place in the origin story of The Billfish Foundation. During the 1985 international tournament, billfish icons, including Win Rockefeller, Don Tyson, Paco Rangel Castelazo and Tim Choate, shared fears they were catching fewer billfish each year, despite their improved skills and tackle. In response to this concern, Club Nautico donated $5,000 toward the cause, one of the first known donations toward billfish conservation.
Dr. Eric Prince, the leading Atlantic billfish scientist at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) in Miami at the time, explained billfish were simply not a priority commercial species to the U.S. government’s research. So, with limited support from the government and outside agencies, billfish anglers took matters into their own hands. In 1986, the International Billfish Research and Conservation Foundation (IBRCF) was created, later renamed The Billfish Foundation (TBF).
Within 12 months, this new organization reported support from 21 corporations, nine sport-fishing clubs and hundreds of individuals. With the creation of the IBRCF/TBF, it became clear that anglers’ demands for tagging equipment had even exceeded the U.S. government’s capacity. In 1990, TBF’s tagging program was created.
At the ground level, TBF’s new tagging program included not only dart tags, but also telemetry and acoustic tagging. TBF would also begin to conduct age and growth studies, collect scientific samples, lead socioeconomic surveys, and host billfish conferences, all in support of the mission. As the tagging program continued to grow and the organization expanded, it became more obvious how influential TBF would become in regard to proper fisheries management and conservation efforts.
As research grew, so did advocacy. Over the next four decades, TBF would go on to secure multiple critical conservation victories, including successfully combating the proposed listing of Atlantic white marlin under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and promoting reasonable access for U.S. anglers to harvest Atlantic bluefin tuna, particularly in Gulf fisheries. To date, TBF has over 150 scientific publications in our billfish research library, each contributing to advancing billfish conservation and improved management.
Today, TBF continues its mission of billfish conservation, adding education as a main pillar of success. Free youth magazines and outreach efforts are given annually to students interested in learning about marine conservation. On the community side, TBF staff consistently attend HMS panels, fisheries conferences and government discussions to fight on behalf of billfish and our anglers. For four decades, TBF has amassed advocacy successes, research breakthroughs and sport-fishing victories. To date, our database has recorded nearly 250,000 tags and over 50,000 releases—and we’re just getting started.
As we look ahead, we cannot help but reflect on what we as a community have been able to accomplish. TBF owes a debt of gratitude to all the organizations and individuals who have supported our cause of billfish conservation throughout the years. To the sport-fishing community, TBF thanks you.
If you’re looking to get involved this year, TBF launched its 40 for 40 campaign in 2026, which aims to deploy 40 satellite tags in honor of our 40th anniversary. Visit billfish.org/40for40 to see how you can participate.
Here’s to the next 40 years!
