Boating Marlin for Measure

[pitch bait]

Is it against the rules in the Mid Atlantic or Ocean City to bring a marlin in the boat and measure it? I think I remember back where there was some rumors of something like this going around. Is that fish a boated fish or is it a released fish? Where do you draw the line? At what point is the fish considered boated? I wonder if the IGFA has any ruling on this subject? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[hubris 1]

every fish that even looks close.......is getting a free lift into the boat. years ago a merritt ran all the way to the triple zero's. like a 160 miles. they came back in first,second and third. they had like 12 marlin flags flying. how many do you think came in the boat? how many do you think went back and could swim? i bet they weighed all of them at the end of the day. excuse me measured them. every once in a while, even a gentleman get's out of control.

[burricane]

seriously--how long does the wmo have left with it's current format? not that i'm above whacking the occasional billfish (but only on the second week in june, if ever given the opportunity, ha ha), but how much longer can a white marlin kill tourney last in this day and age? i'm not trying to be a complete homer, i realize that the tournaments up there have a full and rich history, that they are professionaly run, and have some great fishermen in them. but pirates cove is just as prestigious a tournament and it is a release only event in the white marlin division. eventually all east coast tournaments will be like the bahamas ones. no-kill and forced calcuttas. sounds pretty good to me. anybody want to sound off on this one? we all ***** about sportfishermen not being the root of the white marlin crisis. but we have a kill tourney for them that passively advocates mishandling them at the boat... hmmmmm

[Deep C]

Absolutely great question! I for one have not seen a rule regarding it. Not from IGFA or the tournies themselves. If it is a rule then I would think most of us would be dq as I have seen litterally hundreds boated and tossed back over after the tape was put on em. I've got a pretty good set of eyes but the close ones come in for a quick measure. We dont brutalize em. They get kid glove treatment in then revived back out...
Down here a popular commodity in the shops is tapes that stick on the inside of the boat with various species marked for legal length. Even the state provides some of those so the state is ok with boating measuring and releasing.
There was another device "billfish belts" that used to be on shelves that clipped over your lleader and slid down. The hard part was hanging on the lower jaw. If the belt went past the fork the fish was short... Simple. I carry plastic ribbon cout in different lengths for the various events but really havn't had a clear read with the fish in the water as the ribbon kinda flutters and undulates in the wash...

[Glenn W]

Bobby,
I read, re-read, and read again the rules on this very topic last year for the WMO. As you know, the old NC format was "if the gaff breaks the plane of the gunnel"--- I saw no mention whatsoever, so my interpretation was that it was fine to slide a White Boy through the door and if short, still count a release. I have noticed the NC tournaments have changed their wording for releases--- For example, the Big Rock rules now say that if a fish is boated(period) it is not a release fish and must be brought to the scales ( if short you get your penalty points)

Burricane, the don't ever kill the Marlin preaching bullshit is much better received on other boards---- you'll find alot more support on those.

[Deep C]

Did I just see "no kill" and Bahamas mentioned in the same sentence? ???
They push for release indeed but its dead meat on the dock with usually 99 inches as the qualifier. Whites don't hold the same royalty status down here as up north so they are all let go as are the sails...

[JMiner]

Bobby,

I did the the same as Glenn and read the rules for the MA500 just now and it does not say that boating a fish to measure disqualifies it for a release. We both see those fish comming in for measurement and being released all the time. That being said I do mark the side of the boat for blues during tournamnets to give me an idea what we have. And as far as the comment that we should move to all release tournamnets you can kiss 50-60% of the boats goodbye and watch the money become peanuts. Why in the world would guys like us that are good fisherman pony up 25K to fish the MA500 against guys that fish for a living. We fish it hoping to find that one big fish. Thats what keeps us in the game. Have you seen any boats win a release tounament that are part timers. We fish release tournamnet like the WSC in key west for fun and they only cost 6K to enter.

Jim

[whitey]

every fish that even looks close.......is getting a free lift into the boat. years ago a merritt ran all the way to the triple zero's. like a 160 miles. they came back in first,second and third. they had like 12 marlin flags flying. how many do you think came in the boat? how many do you think went back and could swim? i bet they weighed all of them at the end of the day. excuse me measured them. every once in a while, even a gentleman get's out of control.

That was the Escapade which was built by Tribute. They ran all the way to Oregon Inlet durring the Mid Atlantic 500,000 and since that year they have a had a 125 mile boundry.

To answer the original question I have never seen it written in any of the rules for the Mid Atlantic or WMO where the fish is disqualified for release points if it is pulled into the boat to be measured and then released.

[Russell A. Jost]

Bobby go to the NMFS web site and look up - Guide for compling with the Atlantic tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish regulations dated Oct. 2007. www.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/brochures/2007/october when you get to the brochure go to page 41 Q6 reads: Under regulation 50cfr635.21, a person must release a billfish caught by a hook or by using a dehooking device without removing the fish from the water. This paragragh is specifically in reference to billfishing. Since most tourment regulations have language regarding all state and federal regulations must be complied with the act of boating a fish is not the problem it is the act of putting it back if it does not meet minimum length that can be grounds for protest or DQ. This could be a problem with white marlin since in the MA500 a 66" white has weight anywhere from 49lb to over 70lb's. [ see the science page on the MA500 web site.] This should get interesting. Stay tuned.

[Glenn W]

Bobby go to the NMFS web site and look up - Guide for compling with the Atlantic tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish regulations dated Oct. 2007. www.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/brochures/2007/october when you get to the brochure go to page 41 Q6 reads: Under regulation 50cfr635.21, a person must release a billfish caught by a hook or by using a dehooking device without removing the fish from the water. This paragragh is specifically in reference to billfishing. Since most tourment regulations have language regarding all state and federal regulations must be complied with the act of boating a fish is not the problem it is the act of putting it back if it does not meet minimum length that can be grounds for protest or DQ. This could be a problem with white marlin since in the MA500 a 66" white has weight anywhere from 49lb to over 70lb's. [ see the science page on the MA500 web site.] This should get interesting. Stay tuned.

Interesting---- would this then only apply to fish under the Federal Minimum and not those between Federal min. and tournament minimums in the majority of cases where tourny mins are greater?