Bonefish, tarpon, and permit need an array of healthy coastal habitats to survive. When habitats are destroyed or degraded, the flats fishery suffers. The habitats essential to our flats species aren’t just where we fish for them, but also include habitats for juveniles, adults migrating to spawn, spawning locations, and feeding and resting areas away from the flats. Unfortunately, some of this habitat information is missing for all three species. This is why BTT continues to work with guides and anglers to tag and track bonefish, tarpon, and permit—we can only restore and conserve the habitats we know about.
Threats to permit include dredging of the flats and coastal development, which degrades habitats, and beach fish traps, which catch permit during their migrations. Although many of the permit captured in beach traps are released, the traps disrupt migrations and cause stress to the captured permit.
As the tagging project continues and expands, the data will help BTT to identify important permit habitats and migration pathways. We also plan to expand the tagging program to include acoustic tracking, which will help us to identify spawning sites on the nearby reef.
Please help BTT by tagging the permit you catch in Belize and reporting any tagged permit that you land. The information is essential for conserving the fishery. To participate, follow the steps below.
We hear more and more about electric boats, but would an electric outboard make sense…
Indianola Fishing Marina is proud to present the inaugural Manufacturers In-Water Boat Show, by Coastal…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its genetic research partners announce the birth of…
People are reporting seeing wild-looking cats throughout America that don't match with native wildlife. Chester…
Seagrass beds are crucial ecosystems along coastal areas, especially from the Middle Coast down to…
In the world of angling, breaking a record is the ultimate achievement. It's the pursuit…