Fishing crew to appeal disqualification that lost them $3.5M
- Sensation fishing crew caught a 619.5-lb blue marlin at a tournament
- Fish was disqualified due to "mutilation caused by a shark, marine animal"
- Crew was denied first place and $3.5 million because of disqualification
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MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (NewsNation) — A fishing crew believed they won a marlin fishing competition on Saturday before they learned their massive haul was disqualified Sunday morning. Now, the owner of the boat is pursuing an appeal.
Officials at the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, North Carolina, had to remove the 619-lb blue marlin from the competition after they discovered a chunk missing from the fish.
“After careful deliberation and discussions … it was determined that Sensation’s 619.4-lb blue marlin is disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal,” the official statement said. “It was deemed that the fish was mutilated before it was landed or boated and there it was disqualified.”
The tournament said a fish cannot win if there is a mutilation of the fish by a shark or other fish, according to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Rule 23 in the Big Rock Official Rules.
Before being removed, the group Sensation was on track to win the competition. The group would have taken home $3.5 million in prize money: $2.77 million for coming in first place and $739,500 for the first catch of the year more than 500 pounds, according to the Washington Post.
Tournament officials announced this year’s winner to be Sushi, whose blue marlin weighed 484.5 lb. Chasin A claimed second place with a 479.8-lb Blue Marlin, according to the statement.
Capt. Greg McCoy, who leads the Sensation crew, said the owner of the boat is pursuing an appeal on the official’s decision to disqualify Sensation’s blue marlin from the tournament.
“We feel we’ve been wronged a little bit on this one, it’s kind of an obscure rule. It doesn’t match up with the other rules. There’s been other fish in past tournaments that have some mutilation that have gone ahead and they let them count,” McCoy said.
He continued, “It was a natural occurrence. We couldn’t prevent it.”
McCoy said his crew is hoping for the best, and while this decision has left a little bit of a sour taste in his mouth, he said it’s a great tournament overall.
“We work hard and we feel like we ought to be rewarded for winning the tournament,” he said.
