<p>I am a captain of a boat that participates in the shark tournament. We have been fishing this tournament for a long time. I first will say I really do enjoy the town of Oak Bluffs and usually things seemed to go off without a hitch. I frequent the town as well with my family and friends for dinner and drinks and shopping multiple times during the summer season.</p>
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
I am a captain of a boat that participates in the shark tournament. We have been fishing this tournament for a long time. I first will say I really do enjoy the town of Oak Bluffs and usually things seemed to go off without a hitch. I frequent the town as well with my family and friends for dinner and drinks and shopping multiple times during the summer season.
Now on to the tournament. Whether you agree with the fishing part of the tournament or not isn’t why I am writing this letter. I find it unbelievable that you are trying to push the tournament out after all the years we have been there and what has become a very busy tourist weekend for the town. How can you justify this extortion fee for use of the harbor for slips and mooring? It’s borderline discrimination. How do you think we will feel paying this fee when we are participating in the tournament when the vessel next to me who maybe not participating doesn’t have to pay this fee? I understand that there maybe more need for police staff, garbage cleanup etc. But why are the boats in the tournament being punished for this? Speaking for myself, I will probably be on land a total of five hours a day, as we will be fishing for most of the other time. Do you really think that the participants of the tournament have more trash? Or are more publicly intoxicated to warrant police staff? My team as well as most of the people in this tournament have millions of dollars tied up in vessels and gear and time for this tournament. So pretty safe to say those people wont be partying until 2 a.m. since most of us leave pretty early in the morning to go fishing. Does this extra fee paid by tournament participants get us our own private porta-potties? If we are paying this extra fee and other participants are not, we should get our own special toilets, dumpster, etc. right? Don’t you think it’s possible that the other boats that will be in the harbor all day long while we’re out fishing may also be a big cause of the problem you speak of? How about the people sitting on the beach all day or in the bar all afternoon; don’t you think they could be a big cause of the problem?
Unfortunately the way the town has treated us this year has taken a toll. I will not be coming over to the town anymore with my family and friends to enjoy ourselves and relax. If the town doesn’t think we’re good enough to be there during shark week, then we aren’t going to be giving the town or any of the businesses any more money by coming.
I do hope in the future the tournament is moved to a different location. And I won’t be sad to see Oak Bluffs be left behind. The town itself may not get the immediate impact of not hosting the tournament but I am sure business will be impacted greatly.
I look forward to coming to Oak Bluffs this year and hope the town realizes the effects the tournament actually has on the economy in the area.
AJ Johnson, Pittsfield
Comments
Sport Fishing Expert says
sam low Oak BluffsSport Fishing Expert says Catch-and-release tournament good for the ocean, good for fishermen and good for Oak Bluffs.
by Sam Low
Dean Travis Clark is an avid angler and licensed captain. He is the author of Fish - 77 Great Fish of North America. Dean has been executive editor at World Publications for the past fifteen years, where he worked on Sport Fishing, Marlin, Fly-Fishing in Saltwaters, and Boating Life magazines. He also hosts the popular Sport Fishing Magazine television show on the Outdoor Life Network.
And - Dean was my houseguest this weekend so I had a chance to ask him about his opinions of the Great Shark Tournament in Oak Bluffs.
Sam Low: “Dean, you have been a fisherman all your life and even have put on fishing tournaments. What do you know about the Great Shark Tournament held on this island.”
DTC: “I have never heard as many negative comments about a fishing program on television as I have about Martha’s Vineyard Monster Shark Tournament. And not just from those who don't like fishing. Experienced salt water anglers thought it was awfully gory and didn't present us or our sport in a very good light.”
“Sharks -- to their detriment -- have big teeth, are scary, and they often attract the Neanderthal element who just want to prove how they can triumph over such a big, scary "man-eater." And if TV or video games are any bellwethers, the American public thrives on gore and atrocity. If Oak Bluffs is tired of the masses of spectators surrounding the shark tournament, get rid of the gore, the teeth and the Jaws mentality and you'll get rid of the crowds (of spectators).”
“I met Peter Benchley while I was working for Sport Fishing Magazine. He admitted, “If I had to do it over again, I would never write Jaws because it did the single greatest disservice to sharks ever.”
SL: “What is a catch and release tournament?”
DTC: “There are different ways to handle the documentation of a shark catch. You don’t have to take them to shore and hang them up or weigh them. In a catch and release event the winner catches the most fish, not the largest. You don’t have to kill a fish to win the tournament. Once the fish get’s to the boat the challenge is over anyway. Better that you photograph the fish with a special code given from shore, then let the fish go. Sharks are impressive predators but that is no reason to kill them. They are a crucial part of the food chain that keeps everything else healthy.”
SL: “We have been told that if the sharks are not brought in to be weighed, the fishermen will not come and the tournament will not succeed.”
DTC: “In all the world-class fishing tournaments I've been involved with, the draw isn't killing fish; it's money. The prize money, the entry fees, the Calcutta. Fishermen will come to an event even if it is catch and release if there are substantial cash prizes.
SL: “Some of the citizens of Oak Bluffs think that a properly run catch-and-release shark tournament can benefit the town. Do you agree?”
DTC: “If you have a catch and release tournament, the blood-lust fishermen will disappear. But to attract entrants to a release tournament, you need a decent prize. Everyone can win with a catch and release tournament - the town can back it with a good conscience, you can attract good scientists to the event who can use it to produce good scientific information, you can have good educational programming, you can take care of the environment and you can have some really good fishing.”
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