Tournament Rules

TOURNAMENT RULES

The Tournament is organized following the IGFA Rules & Regulations (With the exception of IGFA approved line) as well as to Tournament RELEASE PROCEDURES. The tournament committee reserves the privilege of changing the rules and the starting and finishing times for any reason it deems necessary.

Boat & Gear:

The minimum length of a participating Boat is 25 Feet
The minimum crew on board is two (2) persons
The maximum line test allowed is 80 lbs (as labeled by the manufacturer)
No extra points will be given for catching a fish on lighter line
Hand lines and Wire lines are not allowed
J hooks can only be used for dead baits and artificial lures
Circle hooks must be used with live bait
Offset hooks are strictly forbidden
Fighting a fish from the gunwale is strictly forbidden

Fishing Zone: “Marlin Boulevard”

See attached map
All fishing days will be held on zone 1 (Marlin boulevard)
The committee reserves the right to change the fishing zone from zone 1 to zone 2 if it deems it necessary.
To ensure a fair fishing practice no intentional fishing around any FAD (Fish Attracting Devices) will be permitted. The tournament Committee reserves the right to disqualify any boats caught fishing around a FAD.
The GPS position of the boat at the beginning of the fight determines your position. All fish hooked outside of the fishing zone will be disqualified.

Qualifying Fish & Points:

Level 1:

The minimum weight is set at 400 lbs for Blue Marlin
The minimum weight is set at 100 lbs for White Marlin
All Sailfish and Spearfish must be released.
Contender Tournament Record Prize:

The current Blue Marlin record of the Saint Martin Billfish Tournament is 809 lbs. In order to be able to receive the Contender Record Prize a team must break the current record by half of 1% of the current record of 809 lbs, thus the Blue Marlin must weigh at least 813.4 lbs. In addition, the angler must agree to take and pass a polygraph test.

All St. Martin and IGFA sport fishing rules and regulations apply.

In the event that a team weighs a Blue Marlin above 809 lbs but falls short of the 813.4 lbs needed in order to receive the Contender Record Prize, the fish will become the new tournament record but not qualify the team for the Contender Record Prize. This fish however, will qualify for the Largest Blue Marlin Prize.

In the event that multiple teams weigh Blue Marlin above 813.4 lbs, it will be the largest of these fish that will be considered for the Contender Record Prize. This fish will become the new tournament record.

In the event that multiple teams weigh Blue Marlin that are the same weight and above 813.4 lbs, it is this first one landed that will be considered for the Contender Record Prize
Tuna: min 30 lbs
Wahoo: min 30 lbs
Dolphin: min 20 lbs

Level 2:

Only White Marlin will qualify.
The minimum weight is set at 100 lbs for White Marlin

Level 3:

Only Blue Marlin will qualify.
The minimum weight is set at 400 lbs for Blue Marlin.

Level 4:

All Billfish will qualify.
The minimum weight is set at 400 lbs for Blue Marlin
The minimum weight is set at 100 lbs for White Marlin
All Sailfish and Spearfish must be released.

Fishing Equipment:

The maximum line test allowed is 80 lbs. (as labeled by the manufacturer)
IGFA equipment and angling rules apply with no exception. The angler must furnish, upon request, the lure, leader, line and the spool it came out off, hook, rod, reel and terminal tackle with which the fish was caught.

The Ruling Committee has the right to investigate and act upon any incident occurring during the tournament. It shall have the right to disqualify any capture following examination and measurement of tackle and equipment used on the boat. The tournament committee holds the right to examine any tackle, hooks, line and/or leaders anytime during the event. Refusal to allow the committee to examine any tackle, line and/or leaders will result in immediate disqualification from the event without a refund of any registration fees.

All decisions of the Ruling Committee are final and non-appealable.

Release procedure:

A fish is released according to the IGFA rules as well as to Tournament RELEASE PROCEDURES.

Tournament Release Rules and Procedure:

Report to FISH CONTROL on VHF 06 the name of Boat, the GPS position and the possible type of fish.
Take a picture or a film of the GPS stating the position of the vessel (not the cursor) and the time.
Take pictures or a film of the fight with requested elements.

If any of these 3 stages are not respected, release will not be valid.
If pictures or video cannot determine the Billfish species then only 100 pts will be accredited to the release.
If pictures or video cannot determine if it’s a Billfish then 0 points will be accredited to the release.

To score an official release, the video footage must include sufficient continuous footage to:

Clearly identify the species
Show a team member or crew touching the leader while the fish is still hooked
Show the catch and full release of the fish

The video must be continuous with no breaks in recording, and identify all of these elements. Do not delete any video taken during fishing hours, even if it does not include the above elements and will not be used to prove a catch.

Ruling Committee:

Release Video Camera Check-In:

Participating teams must register all their video cameras before 6 pm on June 21st, 2018.

All teams must provide their own video Camera(s) and know how to operate them to verify releases. All video recording equipment must be synchronized to the official tournament time and checked in by the tournament organizers.

After the release video is taken, the official time, species and angler name must be written on the catch-report affidavit. Each registered angler and boat captain must then sign the catch-report affidavit. At the end of the day’s fishing, the video camera, camera connections used to plug into a computer, catch-report affidavit and all video footage must be brought to the weigh station for verification of official release points. Catch reports should be brought in no later than the weigh in closing time for each day, unless a team is still fighting a fish.

Failure to do so will result in disqualification of that day’s catch.

The tournament committee reserves the right to use any release video footage that is submitted to the Ruling Commitee for tournament marketing purposes.

Fishing Time:

Any boat fighting a fish at the time at which lines out is called on day 1 , is entitled to three (3) supplementary hours to finish the fight. Any Boat fighting a fish at the time at which lines out is called on day 2 (Saturday June 23rd, 2018) will be entitled to one (1) supplementary hour to end the fight. Boats leaving before 6:00 am on day 1 and day 2 will be disqualified, however derogation might be granted by the Committee to the boats considered as slow. Any participating boat arriving after closing time on any of the fishing days due to them assisting a vessel in distress will not be disqualified.

The Committee Observer:

The Committee reserves the right to place an observer on each participating Boat on each Tournament day.

Daily Catch Report:

Each team must complete a Daily Catch Report Affidavit form, which is supplied in the tournament bags at registration. The form must be completed and turned in at the end of the fishing day. No catch report, no points!

Weather

The Committee may cancel any tournament fishing day if, in their best judgment, unsafe conditions exist at sea. A resumption of fishing announcement by the Committee does not ensure the safety of any participant. If rough weather conditions exist and the tournament committee takes the decision to allow the participating boats to fish, the final decision to fish will be based solely on the judgment of the crew of each participating boat, keeping in mind the level of seaworthiness of their fishing vessel. All attempts will be made to fish as many days as possible, but as little as one day of fishing or any part thereof constitutes a complete tournament.

Protests:

Any protest should be filed in writing by the Captain of the protesting Boat within one hour after the Weigh Master Closing Time, accompanied by a protest fee of $500 USD payable to the Committee. The sum of $500 USD will not be reimbursed in the case that the protest is deemed unfunded.

CALCULATION OF POINTS & PRIZES

1. Rules:

+ Blue Marlin landed over the minimum weigh of 400 lbs will be awarded 1 point per pound.

+ Any boat that lands a Blue Marlin under the minimum weight of 400 lbs will be penalized 400 points.

+ White Marlin landed over the minimum weight of 100 lbs will be awarded 1 point per pound.

+ Any Boat that lands a White Marlin under the minimum weight of 100 lbs will be penalized 100 points.

A mutilated fish (upon IGFA rules) will not be hung or weighed and consequently will not bring any points to the competitor.

No points will be awarded for Tuna, Mahi and Wahoo.

2. Release Points:

Blue Marlin: 300 points

Other Billfish: 100 points

Any Billfish released on a circle hook will be awarded 5 extra points.

In order to receive these 5 extra points, there must be continuous video footage clearly proving that the billfish was, without a doubt, caught on a circle hook.

3. Ties:

In the event that one or more Boats end up with the same amount of points, the victory will be attributed to the Boat who reached the total points first during the Tournament. (Release time or kill time)

In all cases the decisions made by the Committee are irrevocable and final.