07/27/10 - Whirlwind Tour
Weighing In
Charlie Levine
Senior Editor | |
Why does summer always fly by? I've been staying busy and getting out there as much as I can this past month. I headed out to Las Vegas to check out the latest tackle and gear at ICAST, the annual trade show produced by the American Sportfishing Association. ICAST is the best place to see all of the new products from the tackle world's best, and it's always fun to see what the mind of a fisherman will come up with.
Shimano won top honors in the saltwater-rod category with Terez, a new line of lightweight offshore rods. These blanks, about as thick as your pinky, can be fished on tackle up to 100 pounds. I grabbed a 60-pound outfit and nearly tossed it out of the rack, thinking it was much heavier. You get a lot of bend and power for such a light rod. The setups are built for fishing braid on big-game casting gear. More guys are fishing heavy-tackle spinners and demanding tougher, lighter rods designed to fish with braided line. You'll be hearing more about using big-game spinning gear in Marlin. More guys are using it for jigging up giant tuna with spinners, casting to marlin and even dropping back baits.
After ICAST, I spent some time in the Keys. Ben Holtzclaw, Marlin's online editor, and I attended Maui Jim's Pride on the Line tournament. The event pitted several outdoor writers against each other, all of whom 
were hoping for the big dolphin that would win him or her a free trip to Maui. Fishing was tough with onshore winds and six- to eight-footers outside the reef. We were one of only a few boats that worked its way offshore and found fish. A few weed lines produced all the schoolie dolphin you could want, but we never found a nice bull. Still, we had a great time fishing out of Hawks Cay and got to put Maui Jim's gear to the test.
I finished out the week at Marlin's annual editorial retreat. We thought up some cool concepts to keep the magazine fresh and at the top of its game. We're also rolling out new Web departments, so stay tuned for fresher content.
The bite in St. Thomas is gaining steam with the July Open rolling. I heard the 23-boat fleet caught 20 billfish on Day Two. Get out there and enjoy it!
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07/13/10 - Summertime in Guatemala
Good Friends, Good Times and a Bit of Fishing
Without a doubt, my favorite part of being an editor at Marlin is the opportunity to travel, fish in various locations and meet amazing people with diverse backgrounds. Spend any time around the docks, and you're bound to strike up some lasting friendships. You meet someone at a boat show or tournament, share a couple of beers or a day on the water, and you become fast friends. It happens that quickly. Such was the case when I first met Capt. Brad Philipps, a South African boat captain who has been shattering records down in Guatemala for the better part of a decade.
After Fins N' Feathers closed in 2004, Brad and his wife, Cindy, took a gamble and went out on their own, opening up Guatemala Billfish Adventures. I visited Guatemala soon after they started running trips on the 40-foot Gamefisherman Decisive in 2005. I had always wanted to try fly-fishing for sailfish, and Brad promised to show me the ropes. I'll never forget the conversation we had on the dock that morning: "You really think I'll catch one on fly?" I asked. "Nah, mate, I think you'll catch 10," Brad said.
Sure enough, I released my 10th sail just after lunch, and Brad even came down off the bridge to catch a few of his own.
That's the beauty of this job, but like anything else, it's not all a bed of roses. There are a few downsides, the biggest one being time spent away from family. Sure, I get to travel, but it can make for some dicey moments at home when I'm gallivanting around the Caribbean and my wife just took out the trash for the third time in a row. The trick to making it work, at least for me, is to make sure the wife gets to go on at least one trip a year. We made that deal a while back, and it seems to be working.
My wife, Diane, and I got married in May 2009, and Brad and Cindy gave us a free one-week stay with them in Guatemala as a wedding gift. It was by far the best gift we got. My new wife finally got to meet two of my favorite people in the fishing world, and she also reeled in her first Pacific sailfish. We spent four days at Brad and Cindy's house in Antigua, a beautiful colonial town masked by two volcanoes in the Guatemalan high country. We also spent two days at the port, staying at the Billfish Inn, with hopes of finding some summertime blue marlin action. Hurricane Alex messed up the conditions a fair bit, and we only managed to get offshore one day, but we didn't care. We still managed to find a handful of sails and one dorado. That's thanks to Brad. He was determined to find me a blue marlin, and we motored 55 miles offshore in sheets of rain, but the blue water was no where to be found. We did, however, find the sailfish this area is famous for, including a tripleheader where my wife and I battled jumping billfish side by side, a first for us.
We spent lazy days touring the beautiful countryside and broke bread with Cindy and Brad each evening as their 18-month-old son Darren kept us all entertained. That's the beauty of our sport and the people who love it. It's about sharing good times and creating memories. Thanks for everything, Brad and Cindy! We look forward to hosting you and the kids one day soon. To learn more about fishing with Brad Philipps, visit www.guatbilladv.com.
06/28/10 - Read the Rules
A Simple Mistake Could Cost You Millions
If you haven't already heard, the 883-pound blue marlin caught by the crew on Citation in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament was disqualified. Had the fish counted, the crew stood to take home prize money in the neighborhood of $1 million. That hurts! That hurts badly. But to make matters worse, the tournament's board of directors said the reason they disqualified the catch was because the mate neglected to get a coastal recreational fishing license, as required by North Carolina law. Apparently, the mate purchased a license on the way to the weigh station, after the fish was caught. According to a statement issued by the Big Rock, "The rule violation did not involve dishonesty or cheating on the part of the owners or anglers of the Citation crew." Be that as it may, the mate did not have the required nonresident license, which costs $30, thus turning this team from heroes into zeros.
I feel terrible for the mate. I really do; I don't even want to mention his name, but I think there's a serious lesson to be learned here. I mean, how would you like to be in his shoes right now? He probably didn't even know that he needed that license, but that's the issue.
Bonnier Corp., the company that owns Marlin, also runs several big-game tournaments in Bermuda, Mexico and Florida. Having served on the tournament committee on numerous occasions and having fished in and/or observed tournaments all over Florida and the Caribbean, I have to say that the No. 1 reason a fish is disqualified is because the angler and/or team neglected to read and understand the rules. Whatever you do, read the rules! Make sure at least one team member takes the time (maybe an hour) to carefully go over each rule. If you don't understand something or have a question, ask the tournament director.
It's never fun disqualifying a catch. I can tell you from experience. You're bound to get screamed at, threatened or even sued. But rules are rules, and they need to be enforced. If you don't enforce them, what's the point?
I would venture to guess that the mate on Citation was not the only person in the Big Rock to have forgotten to pick up a license. And I'm sure some guys skipped the captain's meeting. When you decide to forgo the easiest part of successfully fishing a tournament, you run a big risk - a risk you don't want to take.
06/14/10 - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
The Good and Bad of International Travel
Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. When the kind folks who represent the Dominican Republic's tourism interests invited me to attend the Cap Cana Billfish Shootout, I said, "absolutely!" But I couldn't commit to the weeklong event and planned to make it a long weekend instead. I was scheduled to fly in on Thursday evening, tour the marina and resort on Friday, fish on Saturday, go to the awards ceremony and return first thing Sunday morning. Sounds fun, right? It was, but getting there was nine-tenths of the battle.
I showed up to the Orlando airport two hours before my departure time on Thursday like a good little traveler. One of Florida's afternoon thunderstorms was turning the sky dark outside. I chose to ignore it. The airline crew did not. They rushed us onto the plane as quickly as they could, hoping to depart before it really got bad. We rolled away from the gate and kapow! The plane got struck by lightning. It sounds scarier than it was. It was mostly just a loud thunder crack, but back to the gate we went. The passengers deplaned, and two hours later I realized there was no way I would make my connection in Miami. I spoke to the gate agent, and he scheduled me for an early flight the next morning. No worries - at least I got to sleep in my own bed that night.
I went through the motions again early the next day and got to Miami at 9:30 a.m., hoping to make an 11 o'clock flight to Punta Cana. No such luck. I ended up sitting in the Miami airport for almost 16 hours, as the afternoon thunderstorms again wreaked havoc on departing planes. I read a book … twice. And I found a great Cuban restaurant called La Carreta (I highly recommend the ropa vieja). By the time I finally got to Cap Cana and into my room, it was 2 a.m. Saturday morning. I had a 6 a.m. wake-up call to fish with Capt. Bubba Carter on Tijereta, and I wasn't about to miss that! I think I slept two hours.
Carter greeted me with his signature smile and introduced me to the crew. A group of his friends from Aruba and Venezuela had chartered him to fish the tournament, and they were in third place going into the final day. We motored just six miles offshore, and before all the lines were out, we hooked up - it was two minutes after lines in. A maniacal white marlin took to the skies as Carter wheeled the boat around like a Lamborghini. We released the fish in just a few minutes and took home 10 extra points for using a circle hook.
We managed to release two more whites on the day and put a monster wahoo in the fish box. Getting to hang out with Carter and snap a few photos of white marlin, as well as making new friends from other parts of the world, made the trip well worth it. But the fun didn't end there.
Tournament director Rick Alvarez and Cap Cana marina manager Andy New went all out for the awards ceremony. This was the Shootout's first year in the Dominican Republic after a long showing in Venezuela. They didn't want anyone going home unhappy, and I think they nailed it. The food was amazing, the camaraderie was engaging and the drinks flowed well into the night. I stayed up long past my bedtime swapping stories (Cap Cana is an all-inclusive resort, so it's easy to hang at the bar a little too long). I finally made it back to the room around 3 a.m. and had to get up in two hours to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Miami. I somehow made it to the airport in time and had another group of stumblers with me, so we kept ourselves entertained. All told, I spent about 28 hours on the Cap Cana property. It was well worth it. Life is too short to miss out on a chance to fish with the best and unwind a little bit.
6/1/2010 - The Great Unknown
It's hard to be positive at this point
On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 men and creating a massive oil leak on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. That much we know. We also know that millions of gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf since the eruption. While the government points fingers and British Petroleum works to cap the well, I can't help but think of all the environmental repercussions and my friends who run boats and tournaments up and down the Gulf Coast.
Steve Thomas, the tournament director for the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic, has been a great asset to us at the magazine, keeping us in the loop on all the happenings. Every time I speak to him, I find myself speechless as he explains the effects on the Venice fishing scene. If you've never been to Venice, Louisiana, it really is a true sportsman's paradise, with all the trout and redfish you can reel in and easy access to some of the Gulf's best offshore fishing. But this little community needs fishing and tourism to survive. Luckily, Venice is made up of a tough bunch. When Hurricane Katrina all but wiped the area off the map, the outdoorsmen rebuilt and even made improvements. Now this...
I feel removed from the issue and find it hard to watch CNN reporters standing on the docks in Venice reporting. I feel helpless, as I am sure many of you do as well. I want to help but don't know how. A few recovery programs have surfaced and started collecting money, but with so much unknown at this point, it's impossible for me to decide where to put my efforts. My 10-year-old nephew is collecting pet hair and even human hair to help soak up the oil (www.matteroftrust.org), but I've heard that the recovery efforts won't use it. So do a little homework before you shave your head.
As far as the environment goes, I keep wondering about all the sargassum weed in the Gulf and the important role it plays in marine-life reproduction. This weed provides habitat for more than 100 species of finfish. I can't imagine what the weed that has come in contact with the oil spill looks like. I don't really want to think about it, yet I can't get it out of my mind either.
We need a true leader to step up to the plate, get this leak stopped and clean up this mess before it gets swept away in the ocean's currents and makes its way around the world. To keep up on all the Gulf closings, NOAA fish sampling and other information about the spill, visit www.marlinmag.com/article.jsp?ID=1000082684.
5/18/10 - Custom Shoot-Out Delivers
Gorgeous boats and great crews make the Shoot-Out a can't-miss event
I had the pleasure of attending the Custom Shoot-Out in Harbour Island, the Bahamas, this past week, and I don't think I've ever been amid so many gorgeous boats in one setting. Something about a beautiful boat stops me in my tracks. You can't help but admire the curve of the sheer, the flare of the bow, the detail of the teak trim and the sleek lines of a custom vessel. Admiring these boats at the dock is one thing, but seeing them in action is another.
With its clear, azure waters, Harbour Island, just off Eleuthera, provides an ideal setting to photograph these custom sport-fishing yachts. Each morning and afternoon, a group would gather at the point to snap photos and admire the boats as they blazed out the inlet, slicing through the stacking waves like hot knives through butter. Call it island entertainment, but the afternoon photo gatherings were a bit more fun with cold cocktails and bigger seas as the wind blew against the tide. The boats just parted the waves, threw some spray and buzzed past upward of 40 knots. I think Reel Joy, a 61 Revenge, was the fastest of the fleet, at least of the boats I saw.
I got the opportunity to get up in the chopper provided by Brian Kovack and take some bird's-eye view photos of the boats as they trolled off James Point and Shallow Grounds. The fishing didn't disappoint either. Svengali, a 47-foot Paul Spencer powered by highly maneuverable pods, was the boat to beat on the first two days of the tournament. The crew caught one blue on Day One and added two more on Day Two, sitting pretty as the final day approached. When I asked Svengali's captain if he liked the pods, "It goes 20 in reverse!" he said with a full smile. It goes sideways as well. And the boat probably burned one-third of the rest of the other boats in the event.
Sandra MacMillan, owner of the 63 Spencer Sandman, stayed busy on Day Three, blazing a path to the top spot in the tournament. Sandra, who caught a sailfish on Day One, caught two blues and a white on the final day to grab a 500-point bonus for catching a grand slam in the tournament. That bonus helped her team move into the lead, followed by Brier Patch, captained by Marlin's own Karl Anderson, which also caught a slam for a bonus. Svengali finished in third.
It was a great few days, and I would like to thank Skip Smith for all he does to bring these builders together and for inviting Marlin to be part of the event. I'd also like to thank the builders for letting me poke around there boats. And finally, a special thanks to Capt. Bobby Brown, Jason "Tiny" Walcott and Terry Stiles for letting me ride along on Cutnail, a 58-foot Merritt. Sorry I didn't bring you better luck boys, but hell, you can always catch a buzz, right?
5/4/10 - Gulf Billfish Tournaments Scramble As Oil Continues to Spill
On May 2, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a fishing closure from the Mississippi Delta to Pensacola Bay. "NOAA is restricting fishing [both recreational and commercial] for a minimum of 10 days in federal waters most affected by the BP oil spill," the closure reads.
In a region so rich in marine industries, from shrimp fishing to blue marlin tournaments, the effects of the spill will undoubtedly devastate the entire Gulf Coast. According a report I just read on The New York Times' website, the BP well is shooting at least 5,000 barrels of crude oil into the Gulf per day, more than 200,000 gallons! Work is running around the clock to figure out a way to stop the leakage, but no one knows exactly when that will occur. The oil leak promises to be one of the worst environmental disasters in history, and oil is already beginning to wash up on Louisiana's fragile wetlands.
"You can smell it here in Biloxi," says Robbie Carter, who handles the marketing and promotions for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic. The tournament, which just announced that for the first time since Katrina, it would be hosting the event entirely out of Biloxi Harbor, decided to tentatively reschedule the tournament for August 11-15. Carter says the brand-new docks are filled with boats that are aiding in recovery efforts. Most of the sport-fishers are headed east, but with current forecasts calling for the spill to head toward Key West and possibly link up with the Gulf Stream, no one on the Atlantic Coast is out of the woods just yet.
Other tournaments decided to cancel their events all together. The Mobile Big Game Fishing Club held an emergency meeting and decided to cancel its marquis event, the Memorial Day Fishing Tournament and the Ladies Tournament. "We have been letting our sponsors and participants know," says Jim Cox, MBGFC's media liaison. "It's awful, just awful. Who knows if fishing in the Gulf is even going to be open this summer?"
The MBGFC Memorial Day Tournament attracts 120-plus boats to Orange Beach, Alabama, making it one of the top five largest billfish tournaments in the country. When you factor in the amount of money these boats spend in local restaurants, stores, tackle shops, hotels and more, not only will any fishing closures hurt the local shrimpers and recreational fishing industries, but they will trickle on down and take a toll on nearly every local business. "I don't know how anyone who has a fishing tournament in the Gulf Coast can think their event will not be affected in some way. That's the feeling everybody has," Cox says. "And that's just our little world; there are bigger issues."
Steve Thomas, tournament director of the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic out of Venice, Louisiana, has been on the phone nonstop with NOAA officials and other tournaments in the area since the spill occurred. Venice is literally ground zero for relief efforts to clean up the spill. Thomas says he will make an announcement on May 10 about his event, which is currently scheduled for June 1-6. "We're monitoring situation and hoping for a miracle," he says.
Shawna Meisner, tournament director of the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic in Destin, Florida, is still weighing her options. "We haven't made any decisions as far as canceling," she says. "We're almost the farthest of any tournament affected, but it's still the talk of the town. Our event is not till June, so we have a little bit more time."
Each day, as the oil continues to flow, it poses a major threat to the livelihoods of those men and women who survive off fishing. "Recreational fishing contributes $41 billion in economic output in the Gulf Coast region annually and supports more than 300,000 jobs," says American Sportfishing Association's CEO Mike Nussman.
The outlook does not look good. "It's Katrina round two," Carter says.
4/20/10 - We Killed the Bluefin
It's not the commercial fishermen's fault; it's my fault...and yours
What do bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod, porbeagle sharks and Patagonian toothfish all have in common? Each species is just a few hairs away from becoming the next dodo bird. All four species, and many more for that matter, currently sit at population levels so low that they could very well disappear from existence. So let's play the blame game, shall we, and ask ourselves why did this happen and whose fault it is.
These fish are at historically low levels because they were caught (i.e., killed) faster than they could reproduce. It might take a long time, but if you continue to remove breeding fish from the population faster than they can mate and spawn, eventually there won't be anything left. In the case of codfish, it took centuries. This once-prolific species literally fed the world. In colonial days, the British placed a tax on cod, and thousands of slaves in the West Indies died from starvation. The slaves were fed less desirable portions of cod that were dried and salted for preservation. After the tax, they stopped getting their salted cod. That's just one example of the importance of fish in world history. When you read about the bluefin tuna fishery, it too has great historical significance. Fleets from Italy, Spain, France and North Africa have targeted this species for multiple generations. It's part of their maritime culture. But the species is literally on the brink, and if something is not done, this historical fishery will also disappear. Was it the commercial fishermen's fault? Was it the sport fishermen's fault? Fishery managers? Politicians?
I'll sum it up pretty easily. It's my fault - and yours. I eat sushi. I eat tuna-fish sandwiches. I eat tuna tartare. Sure, the Japanese consume the most bluefin, but the fault does not rest on that country's shoulders alone. It's all about supply and demand. If there is a demand for something, you can bet people will find a way to catch it, kill it and sell it. Personally, I was hoping bluefin would make it onto the United Nations list of protected species of fish. But Japan, Canada and a number of poorer countries fought the proposal, saying the trade ban would destroy fishing economies. Here's what I don't get: How does destroying the species not destroy the commercial industry in the long run? Call me a fish hugger, but I vote for the bluefin on this one. I'd happily not eat another piece of sushi for the rest of my life if it would help save this amazing species. (But I would still want a catch-and-release fishery open for sport fishermen.) Instead of playing the blame game, it's time to fix the problem. Letting the fishery continue is certainly not the answer.
4/7/10 - Picture-Perfect
The magnificent new 68-foot Bayliss, Uno Mas
Thanks to my job here at Marlin, I've been fortunate enough to be able to crawl around on some impressive sport-fishing yachts. And I'm not one of those guys who gets overly impressed with the sheer size of a boat or all of its creature comforts. I don't really have any desire to watch CNN when I'm 150 miles offshore, and the thought of chamoising down an 80-footer makes we squirm. With that said, I sure do appreciate quality craftsmanship, innovative thinking, state-of-the-art technology and risk taking. Few boats I've been on exemplify all those characteristics better than the new 68-foot Bayliss, Uno Mas.
Boatbuilder John Bayliss unveiled his latest vessel at the Palm Beach Boat Show in late March, and I got a firsthand look at this amazing vessel, with the proud new owner, Brooks Smith, as my tour guide. Walking through the boat with Smith really helped me get a feel for how much thought went into this build. Smith is no stranger to fishing or boating; he knew exactly what he wanted in a boat, and he got it in spades with Uno Mas. Walking through a boat with the owner is different than walking through with the captain or builder. With the owner, you get a true vision of what he or she wanted, and I was overly impressed not just with the amount of features and electronics, but the overall look of the boat.
When you first step on Uno Mas, the teak bulkhead immediately grabs your eye. The craftsmen blended the wood brilliantly and curved it to flow with the beautiful lines of the boat. The next thing I noticed was a retractable monitor that pops down from the shade overhang so you can monitor the sounder, GPS, engine cams or any other feed while you sit on the mezzanine. The monitor is a touch screen, giving it a clean appearance with no big knobs. I also loved the pitch-bait holders that are inlaid with teak veneer. These beautiful tubes (one small for ballyhoo and one large for Spanish mackerel) push out of the way under the gunwale when not in use. But it doesn't end there, not by a long shot. In the lazarette, Smith had Bayliss install air compressors for his other hobby, diving. The tanks can be used to fill traditional Scuba tanks, or you can clip an air hose into a fitting under the gunwale near the gaff storage to jump over hookah-style, with nothing more than an air hose. Air compressors are important on this boat. Not only do they supply oxygen for a dive, but they also drive all of the various air-actuated pistons that open the many hidden hatches and storage lockers.
Smith is an obvious techie. Spend some time with him on the bridge, and you'll see his love of gadgetry firsthand. This helm is stacked with redundant systems, and it's all broadcast over four LCD monitors. The amount of electronic hardware neatly tucked away on either side of the wheel is astonishing. I particularly liked the retracting cords from the handheld mics for the VHF and single-sideband. Just brilliant.
The layout in the salon is gorgeous and comfortable. An office's worth of hard drives, a fax machine, wireless keypad and computer are expertly hidden away behind the beautiful woodwork. A lure locker automatically slides out from underneath the dinette. There's an espresso maker in the galley that makes single cups of Joe, so you don't need to hassle with a whole pot, and the liquor cabinet is a true work of art. Every time I turned my head, I kept saying, "wow." One thing really made me smile, however. Smith had Bayliss build a custom cup dispenser that lets you pull out red plastic to-go cups one at a time, sort of like you would do at a 7-Eleven.
Each stateroom offers private television controls and outlets to charge your cell phone. The bunks rise up to reveal copious rod storage. Bayliss installed pocket doors throughout the cabin, but there's no track to stub a toe on. It's all recessed in the floor, and buttons are used to open and shut the doors automatically. Each line is clean, and there is a place for every little piece of luggage or gear.
Our tour ended in the engine room, and that's where Capt. Tom Lynskey really perked up. What an amazing workspace. Each filter and pump is right where it should be with easy access and plenty of room to work. The twin 1,925 hp CAT engines provide plenty of power to push this 85,000-pound vessel through anything and get you home safe and sound.
Marlin's Dean Clarke will be taking Uno Mas for a test drive and will report more about this amazing boat within the pages of Marlin. There's plenty to talk about. Congratulations to John Bayliss and his crew on another great project, and thank you, Brooks Smith, for showing me around your new toy. Enjoy it! To learn more, visit www.baylissboatworks.com.
3/22/10 - Stormy Outlook for Atlantic Bluefin
Move to protect bluefin tuna overruled.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) recently voted down a proposal to give Atlantic bluefin tuna more protections. Swayed mostly by Japan, by far the largest importer and consumer of bluefin tuna, 72 of the 129 CITES members voted against an international trade ban. The United States, European Union, Monaco and Norway supported the ban.
It was a terrible blow to those groups such as Tag-A-Giant, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, The Billfish Foundation and many others that had worked to help steer a ban on the international trade of bluefin in hopes of alleviating some of the fishing pressure on the dwindling stocks of bluefin.
I have been to a handful of fishery-management meetings over the years, and it always boggles my mind that most of these men who make a living off the resource do not see the value of protecting the fish. Yes, when there are fewer fish, the price of the meat goes up (a bluefin tuna recently sold in a Japanese fish house for $345 per pound). This helps commercial fishermen in the short term but hurts everyone in the long term - pennywise and dollar stupid.
While reading the various reports and news stories about the bluefin issue, I came across a quote that completely infuriated me. I won't mention any names, but in a story I read online, a Nova Scotia-based fisherman said he actually hopes he catches the very last bluefin tuna in the world. "Imagine how much money I would get for it," he said, laughing.
If we allowed the fish to rebound, it could sustain sport fishing and limited commercial fishing for future generations. And the price would remain high if strict quotas were adhered to. The market would never become flooded with fish, allowing commercial fishermen to make a decent living and providing our children with the opportunity to catch one of these titans of the sea.
Japan imports 80 percent of Atlantic bluefin and led the charge to avoid the listing; some claims have surfaced that Japan officials even bribed others to vote with them. The main reason those countries voted against the ban was that it would potentially put fishermen out of work. This is true - an export ban would reduce the output of the industry, and some people would be out of work. However, if fishing continues at its present pace, the fishery and those jobs could easily disappear forever - in less than a decade. Some say the fishery will be extinct as soon as two years from now.
CITES will not meet again for three years, and management of bluefin tuna will go back into the hands of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Under ICCAT, bluefin have been nearly wiped out - its record has been called an international disgrace. The last time ICCAT adapted a significant quota reduction based on scientific recommendations was in 1993 when an earlier CITES trade ban was considered. ICCAT lowered the quota from 2,660 metric tons to 1,995 tons for 1994, with a further commitment to lower it again in 1995. This commitment helped defeat the CITES proposal since it appeared ICCAT was finally doing its job. Once the CITES threat was eliminated, ICCAT ignored its earlier commitment, and bluefin have continued on a downward spiral.
- Mike Leech contributed to this report
03/08/10 - Grander Country
Summer is fast approaching, and many of you are gearing up, getting the boat ready, upgrading old systems, buying new tackle, greasing your reels and counting down the days till you can head offshore in warm, pleasurable conditions. Each new season brings a host of new possibilities. Maybe this is the year you finally make that trip to Cabo or the year you go all-in at the White Marlin Open. For some anglers, each new season brings about the hope of finally catching a grander - the holy grail of heavy-tackle fishing. Anglers spend tens of thousands of dollars (and well into the millions for boat owners) in search of that giant blue or black marlin. These giant beasts haunt men's dreams, but not in a nightmarish way, unless the fish spits the hook right at the transom.
Personally, I've only seen one grander with my own eyes. I've seen many in photos, but only once did I get to gaze upon one of these creatures face to face. I was in Kona, Hawaii, covering the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, and my buddy Eric Rusnak brought in the longest blue marlin I had ever seen. It was 2006, and Rusnak was running Sundowner. He wasn't fishing in the HIBT, but he decided to weigh the big fish on the pier in front of the crowd that had gathered after news spread around town that a big blue was coming in. The fish itself blew me away - it wasn't so much fat as it was long. Agnes Nulle, who wired the 1,027-pound blue, is also a friend. So being able to be on the dock when they backed in was an extra treat. The look of joy and excitement on their faces when that scale hit the 1,000-pound mark was something I have never forgotten. I think they also felt relieved that they had finally attained this weighty goal.
The outlook for finding a grander in 2010 looks pretty good (to me). For the past few years, we've seen some behemoths landed in the mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas and of course Australia, Ascension Island, Brazil and beyond. If you've been searching for that monster marlin, make sure to check out the June/July issue of Marlin. I will be reaching out to the most successful heavy-tackle captains and anglers for their top picks on where to head when hoping to tangle with a grander. In the meantime, get back to sharpening those hooks and finishing off your to-do lists before the season gets cranking because it's going to be a good one. If you have some suggestions for grander spots, please send them to me at charlie.levine@bonniercorp.com.
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