This year’s Tag A Tiny Bluefin Tournament will be held in memory of our dear friend Mark Godfried. The purpose of the tournament is to promote tagging research, raise funds for the Large Pelagic Research Center, and have an all around fun time! This year the tournament will take place from July 10-14. Everyone is welcome to join!
The Large Pelagics Research Center (LPRC), under the direction of Dr. Molly Lutcavage, is a premiere research program, focused on tunas and billfish. Based at the UMass Marine Station, Gloucester, MA, LPRC, with its tagging program, has helped identify migration routes, growth patterns, and potential spawning areas of Bluefin tuna. The tournament raises research funds to support the LPRC’s scientific investigations. Mark Godfried was a great friend and supporter of the Large Pelagics Research Center’s Bluefin research. His knowledge and passion for the species was only exceeded by his dedication to the Gloucester fishing industry. The 2013 tournament has been renamed the ‘Mark Godfried Memorial Tag A Tiny™ Bluefin Tournament’ to honor Mark’s lifetime of work.
Mark and the LPRC, aided by local fishermen, initiated the ‘Tag A Tiny™’ juvenile tagging program in 2006. Since then, over 1,258 anglers and captains have joined the Tag A Tiny™ effort, releasing over 1,645 juvenile Bluefin with conventional spaghetti tags. So far, anglers have recovered and returned over 38 conventional and archival data tags.
In 2008, Mark Godfried was instrumental in establishing the inaugural Tag A Tiny™ Bluefin Tournament. This tournament is unusual in that it follows a ‘tag and release’ methodology only, i.e., ‘no-kill’. Participants are rewarded with a unique trophy for the greatest number of fish tagged, rather than cash prizes.
Our goal is to have 50+ boats tagging fish during the four-day tournament. This non-profit event is financed through cash donations so that 100% of the tournament entry fee can be donated to The Large Pelagics Research Center. For more information on the LPRC’s research, visit http://www.tunalab.org.
To learn more about the tournament visit: www.tagatinybluefintournament.com or contact us at tagatiny@gmail.com.
Quick Info:
Registration fee- $200.00
Captain’s Meeting- July 10, Baert Marine
Fishing- July 11-13
Banquet- July 14, Gloucester House Restaurant
Good Morning Gloucester 