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Accomplishments of the Series

• Series emphasis on tag and release has helped change South Carolina's billfishing statistics from 90 percent mortality to 90 percent released.
• Tag recoveries from Series-tagged billfish are benefitting research efforts. A South Carolina tagged marlin, recaptured off Brazil after traveling 4,320 nautical miles, provided the first known evidence of a billfish's trans-equatorial crossing.
• Series conservation funds financed the construction of two new South Carolina artificial reefs, a study of how artificial reef design affects fish species abundance and composition and provided a grant to the Marine Game Fish Tagging Program in support of the tuna, wahoo and dolphin tagging initiative.
• Series conservation funds financed travel costs for MRD's Office of Fisheries Management staff to attend NMFS Highly Migratory Species Management meetings and funded an economic impact study of the 1997 Governor's Cup.
• The Cup was instrumental in achieving passage of a law banning the sale of billfish in S.C.
• The Series received the South Carolina Wildlife Federation's prestigious Outdoor Ethics Conservationist award for 1993.
• South Carolina's success inspired North Carolina and Georgia to form Governor's Cup Series of their own, along with an annual interstate competition, the Carolinas Shootout.
• The Governor's Cup provided initial funding for the S.C. Dolphin Tagging Research Project, set up to study the migration range of this highly sought after pelagic gamefish by recruiting recreational anglers to tag a portion of their catch for science
• The Cup provided funding for tournament surveys to be conducted at major billfish tournaments along the S.C. coast.