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Dolphin are the dominant fish
caught in the offshore recreational troll fishery in the
Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and South Atlantic Bight (SAB).
These brilliantly colored fish comprise more than 50% of
the bluewater pelagic game fish harvest each year in
these areas.
Recreational
anglers fishing the SAB catch almost 75% of the US
Atlantic and Gulf recreational catch of dolphin. Prior to 1995
there was little interest by commercial fishermen in
dolphin.
Since 1995, there has been a growing commercial
interest in dolphin. Currently, commercial fishing
accounts for only 5% of the total domestic landings of
dolphin in the Gulf and Atlantic but the import of
dolphin commercially harvested in the
Caribbean
is on the
increase.
Prior
to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource's
2002 - 2005 tagging study of dolphin, science had little
information on the movements of dolphinfish along the
East Coast.
While fishermen readily accept that dolphin began
their spring migration in the southern most areas of the
East Coast moving northward during the spring and
summer, science did not have hard data to support this
simple theory.
How fast the fish travel and how far north south
Florida
dolphin would move were
unknown.
Fishery
managers have generally accepted that there were at
least two and possibly three stocks of dolphin in the
Western Central Atlantic with the East Coast stock
separate from that found in the
Caribbean
Sea
.
This theory
supported the decision by the Fisheries Management
Councils for the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and
South
Atlantic
, who are the government
agencies responsible for the management of dolphinfish,
to manage the dolphin in each area independently. These agencies
recognize dolphinfish as an important species to the
region's recreational fisheries and consider the stocks
to be healthy, not over-fished.
The
study initiated by the SC DNR was amazingly
successful.
Information gathered during the four year study
by the SC DNR confirmed that dolphinfish do travel from
the Florida Keys to
New York
and
Massachusetts
. Recoveries
showed that dolphin could make the 1,000+ mile trip in
less than two months.
Information from the study indicated that dolphin
were capable of moving more than 100 miles per day along
the East Coast during their northward migration. This study also
documented East Coast dolphin traveling into the Eastern
Atlantic Ocean, West Indies, and
Western Caribbean
Sea
. No other study
has been as successful in gathering information on the
movement pattern of this important game fish.
The CSS
Dolphin Tagging Research Project is a continuation of
the highly successful SC DNR study conducted by the
president of CSS, LLC prior to his retirement from the
agency.
The study relies on recreational fishermen to
volunteer to tag their small and unwanted dolphin for
this study.
During the five years of this study, more than
800 anglers and 300 offshore sport fishing vessels have
participated.
Anglers have marked and released almost 6,000
dolphinfish for the study with more than 150 tagged fish
being reported recovered.
Due to
reductions in federal funding for marine fisheries
research and the disastrous impact hurricane Katrina had
on the
Gulf of
Mexico
fisheries, no federal funding is available to continue
the Dolphin Tagging Study in 2006. However,
recreational fishermen along the entire East Coast
voiced their desire for the study to continue and showed
their commitment by donating the money necessary to
begin the study.
Not willing to set back and wait for the dolphin
stocks to become over-fished, sport fishermen and
industry have joined to provide financial support for
this important research project.
The
Hilton Head Reef Foundation
realizes the need for pro-active fisheries research on
important game fish before the stocks are over-fished
and declining.
The HHR Foundation recognized the important role
that they could play in needed fisheries research by
helping to raise private funding to help finance the CSS
Dolphin Tagging Research Project and other needed
research.
Individuals and businesses can now make tax
deductible donations in support of the Dolphin Study
through the HHR Foundation.
For
more information on the Dolphin Tagging Research Project
visit the project's Website or
contact;
Donald L. Hammond
Marine Fisheries Biologist, president
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