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FORT LAUDERDALE, USA — As the records keeper for over 20 years of the world\u2019s largest private billfish tagging database covering the expanse of three oceans, The Billfish Foundation has introduced a new express, online data entry system to easily input tagging and\/or release information from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe it will especially be popular in Caribbean, Gulf and western Atlantic waters by sportfishermen,\u201d said Peter Chaibongsai TBF\u2019s Dir. of Science and Policy. \u201cIt\u2019s TROD, the acronym for Tag and Release Online Database. With today\u2019s internet access it\u2019s fast, easy and accurate allowing the user to easily enter tagging and release data from across the globe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s free to both TBF members and non-members alike,\u201d Chaibongsai added. \u201cTag and release has been the cornerstone of TBF and we hope anglers, captains and fleets will utilize TROD as their virtual logbooks and help to facilitate more accurate and timely data to us. Every billfish that is tagged, released and recaptured provides us with one more piece of vital data for marine scientists to place into the puzzle of the mysterious lives of these large pelagic species.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annually thousands of volunteer fishing teams on the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans take part in TBF\u2019s Tag and Release Program Their traditional tagging information reveals details such as migration patterns, age and growth rates, all adding to a knowledge base that advances billfish science and, in turn, billfish management policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cDocumenting billfish also illustrates the socio-economic importance of recreational fishing to policy makers in numerous countries that contact us,\u201d said Chaibongsai.<\/p>\n
\u201cTROD provides a faster way for the sportfishing community to enter their data, see their own data, and offers a number of unique and exciting features for anglers. The interactive program also provides TBF with more of the sound science that has been used to fight for billfish conservation and anglers’ rights since TBF\u2019s tagging program’s inception in 1990.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new data self-entry system of TROD reconciles a number of former issues with card submission, such as items being lost in the mail, illegible handwriting and incomplete data,\u201d said Chaibongsai. \u201cWe hope this will encourage more anglers and captains to become active in billfish tagging and reporting both tag and release data. Online entry will also help speed up the rewarding aspects of the Tag and Release Program. The faster TBF receives the data, the sooner our staff can mail release certificates to members and help expedite calculations for TBF’s Annual Tag and Release Competition and the Collegiate Billfish National Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n