•  With the growing popularity of all-release fishing tournaments, the International Game Fish Association recently has codified new rules and standards for releasing fish alive in competition.

The IGFA will consider a fish “officially” released on completion of any of the following actions: the mate grabs the leader; the swivel hits the rod tip; or the connection (knot, splice, etc.) between the leader and the main line or double line or fly line passes through the rod tip. Many tournaments already have adopted IGFA rules for weigh-in competitions, but until now there was no universal standard for “legal” releases.

The IGFA board of trustees also issued recommendations for best practices and ethical releases of fish. They include: using circle hooks when fishing with live or dead natural bait; removing the hook if possible as long as it doesn’t cause additional harm to angler or fish; cutting the leader as close to the hook as possible if the hook cannot be removed; requesting that mates refrain from manually breaking leaders; urging that ample time be devoted to reviving exhausted fish by moving them forward in the water to get water flowing over the gills; and using knotless, rubber-coated nets. For more information, visit www.igfa.org.

•  The Billfish Foundation honored 46 anglers in the 2011 International Tag & Release Awards on Feb.16 at Jungle Island. Overall winners for tagging blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, white marlin, sailfish and spearfish were Gray Ingram of Jupiter; Betsy Crudele of Fort Lauderdale; youth angler Stephen Gegenheimer of Corsicana, Texas; and top captain Fin Gaddy of Manteo, N.C.

Susan Cocking