This article was
originally published in the Feb-Mar issue of the BlueWater magazine
Captain Morgan NZBGFC Nationals
February is Nationals time for kiwi anglers and this year we have a new sponsor assisting in the hosting of the event - Captain Morgan. It is a game fishing event that nearly all our member clubs join in to make it a truly national event. The history of the event goes back to the formation of the NZBGFC in 1957 when it was decided to run an interclub event which all clubs as well as international teams could compete in.
Now we often have several international teams from as far away as the UK. In the contest all anglers, teams and clubs vie for the right to be called NZ National Champion for the year in their chosen fish category. There are 11 species categories and 14 different sections to compete under to give anglers (no matter where they live in NZ) a chance, as each area has it own strengths for species. They include the familiar large fish such as billfish, sharks and tuna and include fish which can be caught in very sheltered waters like snapper, kahawai and trevally.
Every year we have around 1400 anglers competing throughout the eight days of the contest. They all report to their own club recorders, or if fishing out of their home waters, an affiliated club recorder to register their weighed and tagged fish. This information is relayed to our National Secretary who then collates them and sends out nightly results to each club.
Anglers can also keep track of results from home on the internet where all results are published on the NZBGFC web site www.nzbgfc.org.nz . A visit here will also give anglers the results from previous years and the typical effort you need to put in to do well. Scoring for weighed fish is by the IGFA points system modified to allow tagged billfish.
All other tagged species are counted by number to decide winners. The rules are designed to reward the best angling effort based on line weight ratio to fish weight. This has caused NZ records to often fall and world records a regular occurrence during this event.
Surprisingly there are no prizes for the contest. Winners receive trophies, plaques and certificates only. Although there are a few incentives provided by our sponsor to encourage anglers to get out early and register their catches. The other unusual feature is that teams can fish any time during the eight days of the contest.
There is no daily start or stop fishing times. Some teams do go out and fish for broadbill all night then chase marlin or tuna during the day. It also allows those who cannot get the full week off work or for juniors off school, to fish after work at night. This is more practical if chasing the inshore species.
Another feature of the contest is, many clubs run an in house contest for their own members during the same time where the fish caught for the Nationals also count for their own club contest. At the end of the contest they have a huge party and final prize giving. Whatever the attraction, it is a frenzied week of fishing that has a major following.
Kahawai Legal Challenge progress
This is in full swing with our time in court expected mid year. We have had a legal team working steadily since last September compiling evidence. This is gained through Official Information Requests to our Ministry, affidavits from members and concerned public.
Along with this we have our extensive history of correspondence on the subject of kahawai and other management measures going back to 1986. This being the time when the Government introduced the Fishery Act that left the public’s interests in shared fisheries at the discretion of successive Ministers.
We have left the legal preparation in the hands of experts and concentrated on keeping the public informed of the issues and how important the challenge is for the future of recreational fishing if they value this activity. This has meant substantial fund raising to assist with the legal case and promotional schemes. We now have several full time employees working on contract to manage and administer these schemes.
There is an army of volunteers all round the country promoting the issue and collecting donations. These have been backed up with a substantial media campaign in printed, radio and TV media. We have had generous assistance from all those media directly related to recreational fishing and at selected times made news nationally and regionally in daily news-papers and TV.
There has also been considerable assistance from corporate sponsors and these have been substantial. It has been very rewarding to see how the country has rallied to this issue as it has grown. We now have to ensure that we deliver a positive result that will repay those who have supported us.
Early Marlin
We had a tag and released striped marlin in November this season which had us looking at the history books. Caught on 7th November, we have not had another tagged or weighed marlin in NZ local waters that early in the migration season. We have recorded the first marlin caught since 1957 and normally the first is typically late December or early January.
This
season's one was caught by Graham Sowerby on the charter boat
Major Tom II while wandering wide on a nice day out chasing yellowfin
tuna in the Bay Of Islands.
