In what is fast becoming a winter tradition, opponents of the Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament appeared before Oak Bluffs selectmen Tuesday to again ask that the town end its involvement with the controversial sport fishing tournament held each summer.
The organizer of the Monster Shark Tournament this week announced that he had withdrawn his application to use Washington Park as the headquarters for the three-day event and instead had set his sights on securing a private venue for the tournament’s opening and closing ceremonies.
Steven James, president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, told the Gazette this week he had withdrawn his application to put up a tent with capacity for 900 on Washington Park that would be used for the tournament’s Captain’s Banquet and closing ceremonies.
In a move that sets the stage for the town of Oak Bluffs to break ranks with the controversial Boston Big Game Fishing Club Monster Shark Tournament, a divided board of selectmen on Tuesday voted to deny a one-day liquor license for shark tournaments.
Following the vote, tournament organizer Steven James said the town’s action provides grounds for a lawsuit. He accused selectmen of discriminating against the popular fishing tournament and fishermen in general.
Although the Monster Shark Tourna ment is over until the same massacre occurs next July, please read on. My husband and I, the two protestors aside from the Humane Society, spent the hours during the weigh-in with signs stating our stance. We have heard many of the arguments that tournament participants and supporters mindlessly rattle off. If those people would do some research, they would uncover the truth about what we are doing to the oceans and the ecosystems within it.
This is the weekend of the 24th annual Monster Shark Tournament and as many as 120 recreational fishing boats are expected in Oak Bluffs harbor. They’ll ply the waters south and east of the Vineyard in pursuit of the biggest shark, but only a few fish will be brought ashore.
This event has drawn much attention in recent years, including from animal rights activists, who complain about wasteful killing of sharks in recent years.
Oak Bluffs selectmen this week aired complaints about noise and trash from the annual monster shark tournament, a three-day event held last weekend that attracted more than 100 fishing boats to the town harbor and throngs of onlookers.
The organizer of the tournament is Steven James of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club.
A Sag Harbor landscape artist has turned her attention to making shark tournaments on Long Island and on the Vineyard more environmentally friendly.
April Gornik is raising money to pay for and provide free circle hooks to fishing captains who participate in this month’s 24th annual 2010 Monster Shark Tournament in Oak Bluffs. The tournament is July 22 through July 24.
Criticism of the annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament resurfaced at the town selectmen’s meeting this week, with a local group asking the town to reconsider the role it plays in the popular event, citing ethical and environmental concerns with the way sharks are killed and displayed in the town harbor.
Public spectacles like the annual monster shark tournament have much in common with the gladiator games conducted in the Coliseum during ancient Roman festivals. Large, adoring crowds immersed in a circuslike atmosphere amid unbridled commercial activity, awaiting the extravaganza of torture, execution and the eventual display of victims.
Atlantic bonito are here. After rumblings over the last two weeks, reports are coming in that the summer’s fastest swimmers have entered Island waters. We’ve heard that Atlantic bonito, which usually reside in warmer waters, have been taken at The Hooter, a buoy that marks Muskeget Channel.
Capt. Porky Francis of Edgartown said he also is hearing reports that bonito are being taken at Hedge Fence, a shoal that is off Oak Bluffs.