We would like to thank Star Rods, Costa Del Mar, AFTCO, and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation for providing strong incentives for fishermen to tag and release small, healthy, dolphinfish for the Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP) in 2021.  These premier fishing tackle companies and sponsors of the DRP have shown their commitment to the conservation of this important fishery by donating top quality equipment and art for incentive awards to encourage fishermen to assist the DRP.  This year, we are distributing $2,900 worth of gear and art to 32 captains and their crews who collectively tagged and released 1563 dolphin!  When you combine the value of our year-end awards  with additional tagging and recapture awards distributed in 2021, our program, through the support of our sponsors, distributed $5,450 worth of fishing gear and products.  View the images to the left to see what each top tagger won for their 2021 tagging effort.  A complete list of all 2021 award winners is listed below.  Congratulations to our 2021 top taggers! 

To qualify for the DRP year-end awards, a vessel needs to tag and release and submit at least 20 dolphinfish tag deployment reports to the DRP by 12.31.2022.  This year, we are also offering monthly tagging awards, recapture awards, and free tee shirts for any angler or captain that tags at least 10 dolphin.  We are also continuing our regional MAB tagging awards program.  Tag some dolphin this year to increase data collection on this species and we will reward you for your effort!