We’ve heard some wild tag recapture stories over the years, but this one might take the cake.In May 2025, a 22-inch yellowfin tuna was tagged off Venice, Louisiana, by our longtime friends at the LA-Tex Tournament. Just a couple of months later, that same fish was reported as recapture, but not in a way we imagined.
While sampling the landed fish during the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic (another fantastic event that supports TBF’s work), the science team from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory made a surprising discovery. Within a 594.6-pound blue marlin, which was landed by the boat Nikki Bella, they found a tagged yellowfin tuna.
Yes, inside the stomach of a sampled blue marlin was a TBF-tagged yellowfin tuna.
This marks the first time TBF has documented a recapture of a tagged fish from inside another fish; a fascinating, once-in-a-lifetime moment that highlights the value of every tag deployed and how much we can learn through our collective community – across science, sportfishing, and conservation.
To read more from The Billfish Foundation click here.
Created in 1986 by the late Winthrop P. Rockefeller, Dr. Eric Prince, and a group of fifty founding members, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) was founded with the mission to conserve billfish worldwide. TBF’s Tag & Release program, which began in 1990, has since grown to be the largest international billfish tagging program in the world and a cornerstone of our mission.
As a globally recognized nonprofit, The Billfish Foundation continues to distinguish itself through a sustained emphasis of synthesizing science and policy into effective and reasonable fishery management solutions that are good for both the fish and recreational angling community.