Marlin Tournament’s Effect on Sea

We recently returned from a very successful weekend of marlin fishing with our two youngest daughters. During the weekend we caught and released two marlin. Our girls were not only able to witness--but also to participate firsthand--in the thrills, fire drills and satisfaction of catching the greatest fish of the sea and then being able to release him--free to live. It was one of the most satisfying times of our lives, only to be ruined by the Catalina Gold Cup Marlin Tournament.

The Gold Cup does not promote conservation; instead, it encourages participants to rape the sea. This is a big-money tournament, with almost $40,000 going to the heaviest fish brought to the scales--that is what is disgusting. They killed more than 80 fish. Thank God it is only a two-day tournament.

We understand several fish are donated to charities for food, and they have people eager to receive the fresh fish, but let’s be realistic--80 marlin!

What can we do to get people like this to understand that if they continue to rape the seas, there will not be any fish for their children to catch--and, we hope, release? We would like to protest this tournament and end it. If the city of Avalon feels it must continue with the Gold Cup, it should be restructured as a tag-and-release tournament, similar to the L.A. Billfish Tournament. The 1989 L.A. Billfish Tournament caught and released about 50 marlin.

We are not a couple of Greenpeace fanatics, but we do respect our seas and the life they hold. We are avid sportfishermen, fishing every weekend during marlin season and several weekends in the spring and fall for other species--which we also release. But we feel that this type of unnecessary slaughter must be stopped.

MIKE CURRUTH

KATHY CURRUTH

Yorba Linda