Founding partner and group president of iPoint Capital Partners, Hilt Tatum IV works with the alternative investment, venture capital, and private equity branches of the organization. Beyond his professional life, Hilt Tatum IV enjoys working with nonprofits such as the International Game Fish Association (IGFA).

IGFA is an organization dedicated to the conversation of game fish across the world. The nonprofit partnered with Nadya Mamoozadeh, a graduate researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), to determine the populations of istiophorid billfishes such as marlins and spearfishes in the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic.

Although billfishes are very popular with sport fish anglers, much is still unknown about them. For example, their populations across the earth’s oceans and their geographic habitats are not fully known. Understanding billfish population structures, especially for white and striped marlins, will shed light on the species’ interactions with other marine fishes and sport fish anglers. It will also help narrow down conservation efforts to hotspots.

The IGFA will help provide Ms. Mamoozadeh with much-needed billfish samples from distant countries such as Japan, Morocco, and Angola for her research. These samples will be genetically tested to investigate differences in populations and demographics.