The Great Panama Fishing Challenge

Hello to all you die hard fishermen, If you have been waiting for that one reason to come visit us here in Chiriqui, Panama, wait no longer. The Panama Marine Resource Foundation is holding it’s first major fund raising event on May 17th and 18th, 2013. The P.M.R.F. was formed this year by a group of concerned Panamanians, and international sportsmen and women. This foundation is working with private citizens, governmental agencies and allied business to keep Panama’s oceans, rivers and beaches clean and with a sustainable fishery. The foundation has been active in beach clean ups, turtle restoration projects and working with the government to maintain Panama’s position as the world’s premier fishing destination. We are a nonprofit foundation all working as volunteers. We feel with all the prior experience in the sport fishing industry and tourism field what would be more fun than holding a very limited tournament entry tournament. This tournament will produce not only important fish catch data in our tagging programs but also feed some deserving community charities. Please consider this letter as your invitation to participate. Here is the basic overview of the event. The Event, “The Great Panama Fishing Challenge” The event will take place at the following locations on Friday May, 17th and Saturday May 18th 2013. Official check in and weigh stations, alphabetical order,

1-Hooked On Panama Lodge 2- Islas Secas Fishing Lodge 3-Paradise Fishing Lodge 4- Propiedad de Paradise Lodge 5- The Panama Big Game Fishing Club

Some others may also be included in the near future. Over view: The tournament fishing will begin at dawn Friday morning May, 17th, weight stations all close at precisely 6:00pm no exceptions! Saturday, May 18th, fishing begins at dawn. Weight stations close at 6:00pm no exceptions. Eligible species: Yellow fin tuna A limit of two fish may be entered per angler per day. The total tournament entry per angler is four fish. Dorado “Mahi Mahi” A similar two fish limit, per angler, per day. Four fish limit per angler for the tournament. Marlin division, Black, blue and striped earn equal points. This is a hook and release tournament as it is for the sole purpose in aiding the scientific community in an international tagging program. Tags will be supplied to all boats. POINT SYSTEM FOR THE TOURNAMENT we have come up with what we feel will be a fair point system for the tournament. Time of each catch must be recorded on each fish retained. After each day of fishing, the boat’s captain must sign all weigh in cards. Tuna and Dorado will be awarded one point per pound, fish will be weighed on the participating lodges certified scale, (Whole fish). After weight is determined the fish will be opened. (gut cavity) The daily catch in pounds for each angler will be recorded and logged into the official weigh records posted at each site. A copy of their daily catch total will be written on their derby ticket. * In case of a tie in any division we have printed a “time of catch” box. This “time of catch” box will require the angler to record their catch on the official tournament entry catch form. All landed fish must be recorded on this form. First fish caught, time wise, will be declared the winner in case of tie.

Marlin Division: The Marlin division is a hook, tag, and release division!

Points awarded will be 100 points per “tagged fish”. Tournament prizes and awards We will be awarding one of a kind trophies to the division winners at each participating lodge and also an overall champion’s trophy. The trophies will go to first place Tuna, Dorado and Marlin winners at each lodge. The overall total point winner of the tournament will get the “The Great Panama Fishing Challenge” trophy. The winning lodge where the angler fished from will receive a duplicate trophy to hold for one year. Additional prizes Rods, Reels, Line, and other great prizes will also be awarded at each participating lodge. We are looking currently for an overall sponsor and will be keeping you all updated.

As many of you may know, I am an avid angler who enjoys fishing both deep sea as well as fishing the numerous inshore islands with a small panga here in the gulf of Chiriqui.  I was born here in Panama in 1954 and my father fished these same waters in 1952 through 1955 when he was stationed here in the ARMY.  Now my children fish these waters and enjoy the same thrill that I do.  You can see it in their faces an it is a bonding that lasts a lifetime.

Our waters here in the prime fishing areas of the Gulf of Chiriqui are under a lot of pressure from long line boats and commercial fisherman including some horrendous reports of commercial spear fishermen taking  thousands of pounds of snapper from the rocks daily.  I have seen the waters off of both the east and west coast of  Florida go from prime fisheries to dead zones because of the same commercial fishing pressure during the time frame of 1972 to 1985.  With the banning of long liners and gill netters I also saw the fishery recover, albeit to a fraction of the level it was when I first fished the waters in 1971.  We are at the tipping point here in Panama and these issues need to be addressed.  We will need a balanced approach to achieve a sustainable fishery or we will all loose.  Also, tourism is the future of Panama and the recreational fishing industry brings in billions of dollars in revenue with much more to come in the future.  Our fishermen come from around the world and can choose to come or not to come here.  As one fishing captain once told me “if I catch a big snapper and release it afterwards, my customer is happy, gives me a nice tip and I get to come back in a few days and catch the same snapper”.  “If I kill all the fish, my customer gets nothing, gives me  small tip if any and I can not catch anything in the future so I will be out of business”. “Furthermore, I make more money as a captain than I would ever make as a commercial fisherman”.

Last year I attended the first meeting of it’s kind here in Chiriqui.  This meeting was intended to setup a foundation comprising of various marine users such as sport fishing and diving resorts, marina operators, end users etc in order to help protect the marine resources in Panama.  Panama Marine Resource Foundation

Our Mission Statement

“To bring together, in a pro-active way, marine related business. Our goal is to increase and improve awareness and sustainability of our marine resources within Panama and globally”.

As my good friend John Maynard said, I want to make sure that my children and my children’s children enjoy our precious resource here in Panama.

We are serious about our intentions and we would like to hear from any of you out there who might want to lend support to this cause.

I am an avid angler and I “approve of this message”.  Please let me know if you do too.