IGFA Great Marlin Race Track Updates

 

The IGFA Great Marlin Race, a partnership between IGFA, Stanford University and the billfish angling community, is now in the 15th year of deploying satellite tags on billfish species around the world. With over 700 satellite tags deployed on seven species of billfish in 25 countries, and enough tracked mileage to circumnavigate the globe more than 32 times, the IGFA Great Marlin Race is collecting the data needed to better understand the movement and behavior of billfish species to support conservation efforts. In fact, all data is made freely available to the scientific community to promote better science and management of the billfish we target.

Last year was an exceptional year for the program with 54 satellite tags deployed across 14 global events. As these tags pop up over the coming year, we will highlight the most impressive results and continue to deploy tags throughout 2026. A small sample of these interesting results are presented in the videos below. Stay tuned to IGFA’s social media throughout the year for updates.

Global Tracks

The video below reveals the tremendous amount of data collected on billfish species by the IGFA Great Marlin Race since 2011. In 2026, the IGFA aims to deploy tags in regions where little is known about billfish populations, such as the South Atlantic and Southeastern Pacific.

 

Bass Pro Shops Fish #4

In 2025, a total of 14 billfish satellite tags were deployed through the IGFA Great Marlin Race as part of a grant from The Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund. Twelve of those tags have popped up, with two still due to be released from the fish over the next 30 days.

Since beginning the targeted tagging of white marlin through the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund grant, we have begun to see a pattern among Bahamas-tagged fish: the majority move immediately north, sometimes far north, then turn back and return to the south. Some of these fish hug the coast as they move north, while others take a more easterly approach, such as the example below. 

This 45lb white marlin swims from the Bahamas to within 100nm of Nova Scotia, then turns around and pops up east of the US Mid-Atlantic. This tag was deployed during the Inaugural IGFA Walkers Cay Shootout, by "Cowdawg", captained by Mike Brady.

 

Bass Pro Shops Fish #6

This 55lb white marlin tag was deployed off the Bahamas by one of our top white marlin tagging boats, Shark Byte, captained by Rich Barrett, on the fish caught by Brian Rice. This marlin undertook an incredible 180-day journey, reaching as far north as around 400nm from St. John’s, Newfoundland, before turning back toward the south and popping off near Barbuda, 1,229nm from where it was deployed after traveling a total estimated distance of 5,332nm.

 

S/F Catch 

Below is a first for the IGFA Great Marlin Race. Here we see a big blue marlin take an incredible migratory path, crossing the Atlantic twice during the six-month deployment period. This 700lb blue marlin tag, sponsored by S/F Catch, captained by Nick Bovell, and deployed off Cape Verde in June of 2025, undertook an incredible journey over 181 days, covering an estimated total distance of 5,639nm. Unbelievably, this tag popped up just 277nm from where it was deployed off Cape Verde. Stay tuned for more on these eastern Atlantic-tagged fish, as we expect three more results from the region in the coming months.

 

The IGFA Great Marlin Race, presented by Costa Sunglasses, is sponsored by AFTCO, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, PENN, Yamaha Rightwaters, and the Big Rock Foundation. We would like to thank our sponsors as well as the billfish fishing community, who fund and deploy the satellite tags needed to better understand, manage, and conserve billfish species globally.