Capt. Al Anderson was recently honored by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) for his unprecedented tagging activities – the first New England charter skipper ever to be so honored. This adds to the long list of honors received by the Rhode Island based charter captain and author.
Al Anderson received a Master of Science degree from Adelphi University and taught on the secondary and college levels for 20 years. In 1967 he started charter fishing on the Prowler out of Snug Harbor in Rhode Island, and that same year he started tagging for the late IGFA Hall of Famer Frank J. Mather III, who started the bluefin tuna tagging program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in the United Sates. %pullstart%Anderson has tagged more than 50,000 game fish in his career, and is credited by the IGFA with tagging more fish for science than anyone worldwide.%pullend% He has tagged and released 1,000 bluefin tuna in a season multiple times, and he reportedly has more bluefin recaptures than anyone else. Anderson has authored three books and multiple articles and has been an IGFA Representative since 1989.
He was instrumental in creating the Rhode Island Marine Sportfishing Alliance (RIMSA) in 1987, and has served on the Board of Directors of a number sport fishing clubs, organizations and tournaments including the Scituate Saltwater Anglers Assoc., the RI Marine Trades Association, the Pt. Judith High Neighbor Striped Bass & Bluefish Tournament, the Block Island Invitational Billfish Tournament, the Ram Point Marina Offshore Tournament, and the RI Tuna Tournament.