A white marlin tagged off Mohammedia, Morocco, has stunned experts by completing a remarkable 4,000-mile trans-Atlantic journey during the 2024 White Marlin Open, where 318 boats competed for a staggering 8.59 Mln dollars prize pool.
On August 8, 2024, angler Charlie Duerr aboard the Sea Hag caught the 67-pound marlin off Ocean City, Maryland, Marlin Magazine reported on Wednesday.
Although the catch didn’t win prize money, the discovery of a tag on the fish led to a significant revelation.
The Billfish Foundation (TBF) traced the tag back to August 26, 2023, when angler Laurent Sayhoun and Capt. Marco Canu tagged the fish off Mohammedia.
This marks the first time in 34 years of TBF’s Tag & Release Program that a white marlin has completed such an extraordinary voyage.
“This recapture is incredibly rare and emphasizes the importance of reporting tags,” said Peter Chaibongsai, TBF’s director of conservation programs.
He highlighted the significance of this event for billfish conservation.
TBF’s Tag & Release Program, established in 1990, now includes over 280,000 reports from billfish tagged worldwide, playing a crucial role in understanding billfish migrations and supporting conservation efforts.