A nd measurements there were – Len Greiner’s team on Magellan took top honors with the two biggest Monster Sharks – porbeagles at 430 lbs and 378 lbs, caught on Friday and Saturday up East. Second place was taken by the able team of the Karen Jean II with another porbeagle at 356 lbs.
Robert Taylor captained Reel EZ, and crew Paul Routhier landed the third place Monster Shark, a thresher weighing in at 265 lbs.
Young Tommy Howd landed a nice mako which didn’t quite make the cut, on Tokatomist, captained by his dad Tom Howd with an assist from mom, Katie.
The Monster Shark tourney sets the highest weight limits of any US tournament, requiring threshers weigh at a minimum of 250 lbs, with 200 lbs for porbeagles and makos. Only sharks which can be eaten can be brought to shore and qualify. We heard from a number of our captain friends that they landed many beautiful fish, including a 400 lb hammerhead which they tagged and released.
The tournament was a big success according to Lisa Natanson and her team from NOAA’s Apex Predator Program. NOAA has been participating in recreational shark tournaments since 1961. They were thrilled at the quality and quantity of research they were able to gather by harvesting organs, fins and data before the sharks were prepped for the 2 food banks on site (unless the crews got to them first!) We were especially interested to know that the shark fins are being used to develop an easy tool for the Feds to identify poached and bootleg shark fins around the world. The poaching of sharks for fins is a nasty business causing serious damage to the shark populations around the world.
The measurements of success continued – We estimated that at least several 100 lbs of high quality shark meat made it to the food banks, and there were more than a few dozen shark steaks a grillin’ Friday and Saturday night!
Dozens of sharks were tagged with gear provided by Lisa and her team, with an estimated 95% of the sharks caught in the tournament being released. Captains were encouraged to fill out catch and release forms which the NOAA team collected to add to their research.
How did the hometown Newport team enjoy the tournament? The crowd seemed to really enjoy seeing the sharks close up. Sharks are apex predators, at the top of their food chain with few natural predators. They fascinate us all, some with wonder, many with fear. The families at the tournament, especially the children, were encouraged to touch the shark skin and get up close. Lisa and her team from NOAA spoke passionately on the need to understand and protect sharks, not be unrealistically paranoid. She spoke about their habitat, breeding habits, migratory patterns and more, and the crowd loved it.
A special shout out from your Coastal Angler team goes to local expert Elizabeth Casey who was dockside as each shark was brought up for measurement. She beat Mike and I every time on guessing each shark’s weight and was within 5 -10 lbs every time! Not sure how much money Mike lost on those bets…..
The Casey family was well represented with Bill on deck to supervise and the daughters with front row seats. They were especially fascinated by the feel
of the thresher shark tail when captain Robert Taylor of Reel EZ brought it around for the children to touch.
The James family, who hosted the event as a memorial to Steven James who died last winter in a tragic accident, did a tremendous job. Three generations – including mom Doreen – were working round the clock. From set up, to getting the bait to captains at 2 am, to working and managing the event, selling the tee shirts, dealing with the press, organizing the captains’ meeting and events, to running the raffles, it all went off without a hitch (at least to us!) Hope you are all enjoying a well deserved rest for a job well done.
In terms of more measurements of success – the tourney had 51 registered captains, the top prize won by Len Greiner of Magellan was $20,000 (not to mention the Calcutta!) and a new scholarship fund in Steve James name has been set up. All in all, a great tournament.
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