A fishing crew lost out on millions of dollars in prize money after catching a 619-pound blue marlin. The team was competing in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead, North Carolina Saturday.
They spent six hours bringing the massive fish, thinking they had won the big prize, which would have been $3.5 million.
Captain Greg McCoy and team had been ecstatic as their boat, the Sensation, backed into the dock. However, their apparent victory was put on hold, as officials examined a bite near the marlin’s tail.
“We didn’t see a single thing swim near the fish”, Sensation owner Ashley Bleau said on Tuesday to Pirate Radio TV. He also added that the damage to the marlin was “superficial” and shouldn’t be considered.
Big Rock announcer Tommy Bennett told thousands of people who waited with anticipation at Big Rock Landing, “If it’s more than 500 pounds, Sensation is the winner.”
But, Bennett said after the marlin was hauled up on the scale, “It would appear that this fish has been bitten by a shark.”
On Sunday morning, Big Rock’s organizers announced that Sensation’s fish is disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal.
It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed and therefore it was disqualified.
With Sensation ruled out, first place went to Sushi, a boat that brought in another blue marlin weighing 484.5 pounds. It won more than $2.7 million, just a little short of the $739,500 bonus for the first boat to catch a marlin over 500 pounds.
Discussing the protest he filed on Sunday morning, Bleau says that he trusts organizers to find a resolution.
However, Captain Nathan Newlin, a local professional fisherman states “It is a rule, it’s been a rule for a long time,” he said. “Cut and dry decision.”
They spent six hours bringing the massive fish, thinking they had won the big prize, which would have been $3.5 million.
Captain Greg McCoy and team had been ecstatic as their boat, the Sensation, backed into the dock. However, their apparent victory was put on hold, as officials examined a bite near the marlin’s tail.
“We didn’t see a single thing swim near the fish”, Sensation owner Ashley Bleau said on Tuesday to Pirate Radio TV. He also added that the damage to the marlin was “superficial” and shouldn’t be considered.
Big Rock announcer Tommy Bennett told thousands of people who waited with anticipation at Big Rock Landing, “If it’s more than 500 pounds, Sensation is the winner.”
But, Bennett said after the marlin was hauled up on the scale, “It would appear that this fish has been bitten by a shark.”
On Sunday morning, Big Rock’s organizers announced that Sensation’s fish is disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal.
It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed and therefore it was disqualified.
With Sensation ruled out, first place went to Sushi, a boat that brought in another blue marlin weighing 484.5 pounds. It won more than $2.7 million, just a little short of the $739,500 bonus for the first boat to catch a marlin over 500 pounds.
Discussing the protest he filed on Sunday morning, Bleau says that he trusts organizers to find a resolution.
However, Captain Nathan Newlin, a local professional fisherman states “It is a rule, it’s been a rule for a long time,” he said. “Cut and dry decision.”