From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Sharks and Tarpon are the Focus Species in Combining Conservation with Sportsmanship
Apr 16, 2012 - 10:35:24 AM
Fort Lauderdale, FL - In his mission to inspire scientific
research and education while encouraging conservation and best management
practices for sustainable marine environments, Dr. Guy Harvey continues to
work closely with fishing tournament organizers to support and effect long
lasting cultural changes.
As a result, creators of the upcoming Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge
(USC) Tournament and Festival and organizers of the World's Richest Tarpon
Tournament (WRTT) have announced plans to strengthen and share their
commitment to conservation by cross-promoting their common messages. The
Ultimate Shark Challenge Tournament and Festival takes place in Punta
Gorda's downtown waterfront at Laishley Park May 4th 6th followed by the
World¹s Richest Tarpon Tournament in Boca Grande May 17th and 18th and the
Downtown Tarpon Festival May 19th and 20th.
Both all-release tournaments feature exciting and innovative high-stakes
competitions that also place an emphasis on best practices when it comes to
the post-release welfare of their respective target species‹sharks and
tarpon.
The main attractions at both events are the fishing tournaments, but each
will also host festivals that are free to the public and offer
family-friendly fun, excitement, entertainment and education.
While their marquis species are indeed very different, event organizers are
quick to point out that, Sharks and tarpon have been coexisting here for
millions of years and that their symbiotic relationship is a matter of
mutual benefit to a healthy marine and coastal environment. In many ways,
that relationship is a great metaphor for why we're collaborating with our
events.
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Our All-Release, No-Weigh, No-Kill tournaments are an alternative whose
time has come, said Lew Hastings, executive director of the Boca Grande
Area Chamber of Commerce and Tournament Director of WRTT. Bringing families
together in sport and education strengthens not only our estuaries and
fisheries, but enriches our community as a whole.
USC Creators, Sean & Brooks Paxton add that, We're extremely fortunate to
have this uniquely diverse environmental playground right here in our
backyard. The area offers so many choices for not only boaters and
recreational anglers, but also anyone interested in an endless list of eco
and adventure-based activities on land and sea.
The USC tournament‹created as a model for catch and release only shark
tournament formats‹drew some 3,000 competitors and spectators last year and
paid out over $15,000 in cash and prizes. This year¹s event will feature an
outdoor showing of This Is Your Ocean: Sharks, a documentary created by
Dr. Harvey, fellow marine artist Wyland and shark dive operator Jim
Abernethy, about sharks in the Bahamas.
We applaud the tournament founders and directors for their increased
commitment to promote the catch and release of sharks and tarpon in this
summer's tournaments, said Dr. Harvey. Our goal is to minimize shark and
tarpon mortalities and maximize educational outreach about conservation.
Following an extremely successful launch of Guy Harvey's new Armed Forces
Collection, a portion of the proceeds from this year's USC will benefit
charitable organizations dedicated to supporting America's military and
their families. There will also be two teams of veterans fishing in this
event.
Dr. Harvey, founder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova
Southeastern University and the internationally regarded Guy Harvey Ocean
Foundation (GHOF), in recent years has joined the growing ranks of
individuals and organizations calling for strict regulations to ban the
commercial fishing of sharks in the quest to supply the world¹s insatiable
taste for shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy.
Scientists with the International Union for Conservation of Nature have
estimated that 30 percent of shark and ray species around the world are
threatened or near threatened with extinction. The loss of these animals
could cause irreversible damage to the ocean's ecosystem and result in the
loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in the tourist trade.
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Last July, Dr. Harvey, who holds a PhD in fisheries science and biology,
helped lead an international effort spearheaded by the Bahamas National
Trust to convince the Government of the Bahamas to prohibit all commercial
shark fishing in its more than 240,000 square miles of territorial waters.
For more information on the two upcoming tournaments, go to
www.UltimateSharkChallenge.com and www.WorldsRichestTarpon.com.
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com -
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