2019 ROFFS™ New Year Pricing and a Note from the Owner Loyal and valued clients, it is that time of year again! It is time to take advantage of ROFFS™ pre-season discounted plans.  Save up to 40% on your fishing forecasting analyses for the upcoming season.  Take a look below and evaluate which plan best compliments your fishing needs. Please note, we did not raise prices this year, however; we did restructure the sizes and discount rates of the pre-paid plans to make them more consistent and easier to understand and we have also presented them in a more organized format.  Pre-season discounted plan prices are only valid between January 1^st – March 15^th, so call us now at 321-723-5759, or visit our web site to order (https://dev.roffs.com/select-analysis/discount-plans/).  As always our friendly staff looks forward to assisting you with any questions and are excited to talk to you. Again, we at ROFFS™ would like to thank you for your support and business during the 2018 year and we are pleased to announce that it was another successful year for many of our clients and for our business.  As evident from our website winners list (https://dev.roffs.com/services/recreational/winners/), our clients had outstanding results during the 2018 tournament year.  In addition to the tournament winners, we appreciate all the feedback and photos from our clients during the year and we love to hear your stories and how ROFFS™ products assisted in your successful fishing trips, so please keep them coming in 2019.   We pride ourselves on customer interaction and relationships that sets us apart from our competition. Please click HERE to read more and to purchase your 2019 pre-paid plans with a pre-season discount on our website now! REMINDER All Anglers: Tropical Tuna Tagging Program

The Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Tagging Program (AOTTP) was established by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in 2015 to study key aspects of bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna life history and movements in the Atlantic Ocean. Over a five year period, the AOTTP aims to partner with scientists and commercial and recreational tuna fishermen to tag at least 120,000 tropical tuna with conventional and/or electronic tags throughout the Atlantic. The data generated from these tags will be essential in improving understanding of these important species, which will enhance fisheries management and promote sustainability of the stocks.  Given the status of the stocks, data on tropical tunas are desperately needed to preserve fishing opportunities in the western North Atlantic.

As part of the AOTTP, Dr. Walt Golet from the University of Maine will be working with colleagues at the New England Aquarium, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, University of Miami, and NOAA Fisheries to deploy 5,000 conventional tags on bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna in the western North Atlantic from Canada to Venezuela, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. However, to do this, we need your help! If you are interested in participating in the AOTTP project and would like to volunteer to tag bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna, simply contact Dr. Walt Golet ([email protected]) and we can provide you with more information on how to become involved in this free program. Signing up is easy. Just provide your contact information and mailing address and we will send you all the necessary information, instructions, and materials to start tagging tuna. Every fish tagged will not only allow you to become involved in important scientific research, but also give you a chance to win one of 20 individual cash prizes totaling more than $39,000 US dollars that will be awarded at the end of the project.

For more information visit: https://www.iccat.int/aottp/en/index.html

Or call Dr. Golet at 1-207-351-5413.

Please click HERE to read more on our website now! Recreational Fishing Rules to be Overhauled Under New Law Article Courtesy: pbs.org | By: Patrick Whittle | Originally published: January 13, 2019

The rules that govern recreational marine fishing in the U.S. will get an overhaul due to a new law passed by Congress, and the country’s millions of anglers and the groups that stake their livelihoods on them hope the changes will bring better management.

The new standards are part of a suite of changes that proponents call the Modern Fish Act that were approved by the House and Senate in December. Supporters of the new rules have said they will boost an industry that contributes billions to the economy, though some members of the fishing industry felt deeper rule changes were warranted.

The passage is a “big step toward implementing science-based methods” and “marks the first substantial update to the federal fisheries management system in more than a decade,” said Nicole Vasilaros, senior vice president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a boating industry trade group.

The author of the proposal, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, said one of the key features of the law is that it promises to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration incorporate data from fishermen, which he said would improve timeliness and accuracy. The data help inform fishing rules and regulations.

The proposal also encourages regional fishery management councils to update policies for some recreational anglers who fish in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the most popular bodies of water among sport fishermen. The current rules are designed for commercial fishermen and are difficult for recreational anglers to follow, Wicker said. There are also a host of other tweaks designed to more efficiently manage recreational fishing.

“Passage of the Modern Fish Act will boost our conservation efforts and benefit the local economies that depend on recreational fishing,” Wicker said.

Recreational fishing is a huge industry in the U.S., with trade groups touting more than 40 million licensed fishermen and an impact on the economy well above $100 billion. A report released by NOAA earlier this month said the recreational fishing industry fueled more than 472,000 jobs in 2016, up from 420,000 in 2012. Above: Stephanie Freed tags a red snapper off the coast of Panama City, Florida, in this handout picture taken April 3, 2012, courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. There is a federal catch quota for red snapper, which was designated as an over-fished species in 1988, back when some Gulf fishermen say they rarely saw one. The scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service say the snapper stock is rebounding. But the fish population remains disproportionately young and in need of continued protection to achieve the proper age mix to sustain itself, they say. Image Courtesy: REUTERS/Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission/Amanda Nalley/Handout via Reuters. Please click HERE to read the full article on our website now! SECOORA Data Challenge – Opportunity to win $3,000 Web cameras are transforming environmental monitoring. Increasingly, scientists are analyzing video data to improve forecasts, answer questions, and support decision making. Although camera data are being applied for environmental monitoring, they are currently underutilized. SECOORA is hosting a data competition to identify ways in which video footage from web cameras can be applied for societal benefits. Data challenge contestants must use the WebCAT camera data and create a data visualization, mobile application, product, tool or some other creative submission that answers a real-world question or solves a problem. There are two categories. Each have a $3,000 prize.  Join us for a kick off webinar on Friday January 18, 2019 at 12 PM ET- click here to register.

Please click HERE for more information! PLEASE NOTE that we are currently open until 5:00 PM EDT Monday through Friday and CLOSED on Saturday until May 2019.  Please order by 2:00PM EST 10/1/2018-3/31/2019, order by 3:00 PM 4/1/2019-9/30/2019.  We may also remain open later some days based on demand and workload. Please call the office (321.723.5759) or email the office ([email protected]) with any questions/concerns.  Thank you! Please click HERE to place your order online today… Backlash? Feedback?

As always, please send comments & feedback on Fishy Times newsletter content directly to us at [email protected]. If you do not want to wait for our next Fishy Times newsletter, please visit us in the meantime to get all your fishing news using the social media/web links below.  Safe and successful fishing until next time!

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