PETER COLLINS of Westport, MA
Winner in the first lottery drawing held at the Fishermen's Family Center in New Bedford, MA.
Peter returned pink disk tag #03439 on August 12, 2003 from Cultivator Shoals, approximately 8 miles southeast of the original release location. The fish was a female (40cm) yellowtail, tagged on July 16, 2003 on the northern edge of Georges Bank.

RAYMOND LIVERNOIS of Charlestown, RI
Winner at the Pier 44 Restaurant in Scituate MA.
Raymond returned pink disk tag #01657 on November 25, 2003. The fish was caught in Area 562 on the southeastern part of Georges Bank. The fish was a female (44cm) yellowtail, tagged on July 17, 2003 on Georges Bank (41 22.46 and 66 59.87), approximately 30 miles north of the capture location.

ALAN CHIPPERFIELD, New Bedford, MA
Winner at the Working Waterfront Festival in New Bedford
Alan has been a star tag returner since the projects inception. In October and December of 2003, Alan returned 8 tags, all with complete recapture information. The winning lottery tag was #06022, caught on the F/V T. T. Gillie, 12 miles north of Provincetown on December 10. The fish was a 38cm Female released off Provincetown (42 16.909N and -70 18.773W) on August 12, 2003 in 22 fathoms.

GARY MATARONAS , Little Compton, RI
Winner at the Rhode Island Fish Expo
Winning tag #18319 was released in Closed Area II in July 2004 aboard the F/V Olympia out of Portland, ME.
Gary recaptured his tag is a unique way. He is a lobsterman out of RI and purchased yellowtail racks from New Bedford for bait. As he was filling his bait bags, loe and behold, a pink tag! Gary believes the fish was most likely caught on a New Bedford dragger sometime in mid August. Gary says he is going to use the winnings to buy new survival suits. Right on!

TONY FERNANDES of New Bedford, MA
Winner at the Maine Fishermen's Forum, Westport, ME.
Tag #14860 was a 38 cm female, released in Closed Area II in July 2004 aboard the F/V Olympia out of Portland, ME.
Tony has been one of the projects star tag returners, with a total of 32 tags to date, including 1 High Reward $100 tag! The F/V Voyager I has returned more tags than any other vessel; 69 total tags! Fred Marques had returned 37 tags in name of the Voyager I.
We send a heart-felt congratulations to a our star tagging vessel!

IGNAZIO SAN FILIPPO of Gloucester, MA
Winner at the 2nd Annual Yellowtail Tagging Meeting, May 2, 2005 in Woods Hole, MA
Our 6th lottery winner was a long-time tag reporter from Gloucester, MA. Ignazio is the Captain of F/V Cat Eyes and has returned 23 tags since 2003.
Tag #10387 was a 36cm female, released in Ipswitch Bay on June 24, 2003 aboard F/V Ellen Diane out of Hampton, NH.

TOM WILLIAMS of Westerly, RI
One of Tom's 40 tags (#17065) was drawn as the winning tag at the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival on September 25.
Tom operates the F/V Heritage and caught the winning yellowtail on August 15, 2004 (8 days after it's release). The fish was a 41cm female released and recaptured in Area 525.

ANTONIO GRAVATO of N. Dartmouth, MA
The latest drawing was held at the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction in New Bedford. One of Antonio's 15 tags, #01206, was drawn by brothers Ray and Richie Canastra.
Antonio operates the F/V Imigrante, a willing partner in yellowtail tagging since the beginning. The winning fish was a 48cm female released on July 12, 2003 and recaptured on May 6, 2004, both in Area 562.

JOHN MACHIE of Canaan, ME
The lottery drawing was held at our 3rd Annual Yellowtail Tagging Cooperators Meeting, at the United Fishermen's Club in New Bedford, MA on Wed. March 1, 2006.
The winning tag was drawn by Luis Fidalgo during our lunch break. He chose tag #03978, recaptured by John on the Hen Lee. The tag was released on July 17, 2003 on Cultivator and recaptured on September 16, 2003 in the same area. The fish was a female, 37cm both at release and recapture.

STEVE FOLLETT is our 10th winner of the $1000 yellowtail tag lottery. Tag number 32614 was one of Steve's 19 tags that he has accumulated in the past 3 years while working with the program. The winning tag was caught on August 6th, 2005 (27 days after its release). The 42 cm (16.5 ") female yellowtail was released and recaptured on Georges Bank, Area 525. Steve has been working with the Cooperative tagging program since 2003 and we thank him for all of his effort and support. Congratulations Steve!!

JOHN MACHIE of Canaan, ME
John is a luck guy, his tag, 1841 was drawn at the Maine Fisherman's Forum held on March 1 -3, 2007. As well as having luck on his side, he has been working hard with the yellowtail flounder tagging program - John has reported a total of 145 tags! Tag 1841 was released on a yellowtail flounder on July 12, 2003, at large for 329 days until John recaptured it on June 6, 2004. The 48 cm (~19"), female flounder was released and recaptured on the southwest end of Georges Bank.