Around 2:15 yesterday afternoon, the C-B radio under the Big Tent crackled yet again and Jennifer Dudas picked up the handset to repeat what the voice from the sport-fishing yacht Black Gold, trolling somewhere in deep waters beyond the reef and Boat Harbour Marina.
“One sailfish released on Black Gold at 2:11 p.m.,” Ms. Dudas said out loud for the benefit of her co-tournament organizer, Gloria Brennan, who added the statistic with a marker to a list that started at 9:04 a.m. on a dry-erase board. “Congrat-ulations!” Ms. Dudas concluded before re-cradling the handset.
Ms. Dudas, Ms. Brennan, and coordinator Al Behrendt, all from Florida, were monitoring the progress of competing anglers on the fourth day of the Second Annual White Marlin Tournament which began at Great Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbour Marina in Marsh Harbour on Monday. The catch-and-release tournament, in which 27 boats from along the East Coast are registered, concludes on Friday afternoon.
What is really significant about the White Marlin Tournament, according to Mr. Behrendt, is that it serves as a warm-up for the Bahamas Billfish Cham-pionship (BBC), which begins at Boat Harbour on Monday, April 18 with the Blue Marlin Tournament that will run through next week Friday.
The BBC, which has been in existence for over 30 years, has evolved into a prestigious series of fishing tournaments, with varying amounts of prize money, that run back-to-back through the end of June.
“Some estimate the tournament pumps anywhere from $2 million to $3 million into the local economy during that three-month period,” said Mr. Behrendt, adding that all but three of the White Marlin Boats will stick around for the BBC.
Mr. Behrendt said the tournaments are sponsored mainly by boat and marine product manufacturers and dealers.
One of the most spectacular tournaments of the series is the Betram-Hatteras Shootout, which commences on May 9. It is sponsored mainly by the makers of luxury sport-fishing yachts that bear those two brand names.
As many as 100 yachts have been known to compete in that tournament, which is by invitation only. The prize money, sometimes referred to as the “The Big Calcutta,” could go as high as $1 million. Other BBC tournaments can present prize money as high as $200,000.
“This is a very good time for us,” said Kevie Thomas, the resort’s sales manager. “It’s also good for the local and the Bahamian economy as a whole.”
Many of the boats, whose crews average from four to six, according to Mrs. Thomas, stay at least a month and compete in more than one tournament. Many of the anglers also bring their families, some of whom spend time in hotel rooms and vacation homes, as well as on the boats, she explained. She said the trickle-down effect to hotels, restaurants, gift shops, taxi drivers, musicians, etc. is tremendous.
“The government also does well,” Mrs. Thomas said, “with the entry fee each boat coming into the country has to pay.”
Boats up to 35 feet on keel pay an entry fee of $150 to the government; those over that length pay $300.
“We usually hire about 30 extra people during those three months,” said Mrs. Thomas, of Spring City, who has been in the resort and fishing tournament business for about 17 years. “Most of those temporary hirees are in the food and beverage sectors, especially in the restaurant, and musicians.”
Unlike the White Marlin Tournament, where a digital photograph is taken of the catch and it is released then called in by radio, Mrs. Thomas said in the BBC tournaments, there are daily weigh-ins at the marina at 4:30 p.m.
The angling fleets go out at 6:30 every morning, she explained, and may range as far south as Hole-in-the-Wall or as far north as Treasure Cay; but they must be back for the weigh-in.
After Marsh Harbour, BBC tournaments also move on to other resort destinations such as Treasure Cay and Harbour Island, thereby again adding significantly to the national economy. Mrs. Thomas said there is talk of extending the BBC to new destinations next year, such as Exuma.
Two taxi drivers stationed at the hotel yesterday afternoon, Patricia Cornish and Michael Dawkins, also weighed in on the effect of the tournaments on their business.
Mrs. Cornish, of Dundas Town, who has been in the taxi business for 14 years, said she looks forward to the three-month tournament, as it provides a good boost in income before the slow period begins in August.
Mr. Dawkins, of Murphy Town, said the impact on his service is modest, as most of the activities are contained at the resort. He said only occasionally there would be request to take a tournament wife, girlfriend, or family to the airport; or take a few people out to restaurants in town.
In the White Marlin Tournament, Ms. Brennan said only trophies are presented. According to Mr. Behrendt, white marlins are worth 200 points; blue marlins 100; and others, such as sailfish, 50 points. It is a “light tackle” (30-pound line) tournament.
