Photo by John R. Rottet 



stay out overnight, saving fuel with 

 one less trip to and from the marina. 

 On these overnighters, he and his crew 

 members will bottom fish for grouper 

 and snapper, which they sell back at 

 the marina, often clearing as much as 

 $300 to $400. 



And, if the competition isn't enough 

 for him, McGee is also involved in the 

 organization of the Cape Fear Marlin 

 Tournament as chairman of the 

 Special Awards Committee and as 

 treasurer of the New Hanover Fishing 

 Club (which claims to be America's 

 largest fishing club). He says the 

 fellowship is also a very important 

 reason he is so active in competitive 

 fishing. "When all of us get out on the 

 water, everybody kinda unites in a 

 common cause. If somebody gets in 

 trouble, no matter how competitive, 

 regardless of what's at stake, you go to 

 them. It's a tremendous feeling of 

 fellowship, and you'll find that in all 

 the tournaments." 



Changes in 

 The rules 



Tournament fishing hasn't always 

 been well-received by the public. Resi- 

 dents of many coastal communities 

 can recall when hundreds and thou- 

 sands of pounds of fish caught during 

 competition were dumped overboard 

 and left to rot. But there have been 

 some rule changes in recent years to 

 counter the bad publicity. 



Leon Abbas, Sea Grant's recreation 

 specialist, credits this reorganization 

 to a change in society's attitudes. 

 "People aren't as tolerant of waste," 

 he says, "so tournaments are changing 

 to reflect this attitude, Fishermen are 

 also becoming more and more aware 

 that you can't keep pulling fish out of 

 the ocean. There is a growing apprecia- 

 tion," he explains, "that these fish are 

 valuable, a resource that you can't 

 keep on destroying." 



The two recent rule changes in tour- 

 naments, Abbas says, are a tendency 

 towards more releases and better 

 utilization of the fish killed. In 

 mackerel and billfish competition, 

 prizes for live releases are becoming 

 more common and appealing, although 

 the big money still involves a kill. 



Hanging the catch at the 1980 Hatteras Marlin Tournament 



Abbas contends that this practice 

 satisfies both the competitors and 

 spectators who want to see the winning 

 fish. A 700-pound marlin can draw a 

 sizeable crowd. 



Selling or giving away the kill has 

 also become more common in recent 

 years. A healthy market for seafood, 

 especially the prized king mackerel, is 



the reason for better handling and 

 utilization of the fish in all three types 

 of tournaments. And, when size makes 

 the kill too difficult to market, the fish 

 is either given to a scientific institution 

 for research or hauled off and buried. 

 Some fish are even returned to the sea 

 when they are sold for crab bait. 



