Our video review judges this year confirmed 28 billfish releases turned in during the tournament. 16 of these were blue marlin, 11 white marlin and 1 unidentified billfish. In addition to the confirmed releases, we had committee boat reports of other billfish releases not turned in for video verification. These do not count towards tournament awards of course, but they are no less important to us and to the scientific researchers of these species. Of these releases, 6 were reported blue marlin and 2 white marlin.
The total reported billfish releases for 2011 is 22 Blue Marlin, 13 White Marlin and the one unidentified billfish for a total of 36 reported billfish releases. With the six blue marlin weighed in at the scales, our overall release rate is 86% this year.