03-16-2007, 10:10 PM
The IGFA will once again use a number of its IGFA Certified Observers at the upcoming IGFA Offshore World Championship (OWC) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in May.
Mike Myatt the tournament director of the IGFA OWC said, "The certified observer program is the most recognized conservation effort and has proven to be a benefit to more and more global billfish tournaments that are moving away from catch-and-kill events. This is one way we at the IGFA can lead by example with 69 teams from all around the world seeing the benefits. Not only is it a great conservation program but it also levels the playing field for all of the anglers in the IGFA Offshore World Championship."<br />
(At last years tournament a total of 473 marlin were caught and safely released among the 64 boats over the four days of the event.)<br />
The IGFA Certified Observer Program classes train and certify experienced anglers, boat captains and crew members as observers for worldwide fishing tournaments. The program benefits tournaments by eliminating or reducing rule disputes that sometimes arise. Certified observers can often prevent inadvertent rule infractions before they occur. A growing number of big money and catch-and-release tournaments have committed to using IGFA Certified Observers for their tournaments.<br />
"This training program for certified observers was started five years ago and currently over 20 tournaments are making them a standard part of their events each year," said Ms. Michele Sedge of the IGFA.<br />
"We've trained over 600 observers since the program began and tournament officials are giving great reviews after having the observers onboard," she added. "They say it also raises the standard level of their tournaments as well as the conservation efforts with the safe release of the fish.<br />
"For Cabo we've chosen the observers based on their scores from the captains and tournament directors along with the observers who have observed the most tournaments over the year," said Sedge. "The IGFA wanted to use our tournament as a reward for all the volunteer work they've donated over the years.<br />
"Since the IGFA is the forefront for this conservation program we gave the observers a bunch of perks such as hotel rooms, invitations to all the tournament events, and the opportunity to go fishing for a day. The prospect to observe an elite group of anglers who were chosen based on their angling abilities, is a once in a lifetime opportunity."<br />
A computer will randomly make a draw of boats over the first two days so most of the teams would have an observer on one of those days. The top teams going into the final rounds on the last two days will have a certified observer on-board.
Mike Myatt the tournament director of the IGFA OWC said, "The certified observer program is the most recognized conservation effort and has proven to be a benefit to more and more global billfish tournaments that are moving away from catch-and-kill events. This is one way we at the IGFA can lead by example with 69 teams from all around the world seeing the benefits. Not only is it a great conservation program but it also levels the playing field for all of the anglers in the IGFA Offshore World Championship."<br />
(At last years tournament a total of 473 marlin were caught and safely released among the 64 boats over the four days of the event.)<br />
The IGFA Certified Observer Program classes train and certify experienced anglers, boat captains and crew members as observers for worldwide fishing tournaments. The program benefits tournaments by eliminating or reducing rule disputes that sometimes arise. Certified observers can often prevent inadvertent rule infractions before they occur. A growing number of big money and catch-and-release tournaments have committed to using IGFA Certified Observers for their tournaments.<br />
"This training program for certified observers was started five years ago and currently over 20 tournaments are making them a standard part of their events each year," said Ms. Michele Sedge of the IGFA.<br />
"We've trained over 600 observers since the program began and tournament officials are giving great reviews after having the observers onboard," she added. "They say it also raises the standard level of their tournaments as well as the conservation efforts with the safe release of the fish.<br />
"For Cabo we've chosen the observers based on their scores from the captains and tournament directors along with the observers who have observed the most tournaments over the year," said Sedge. "The IGFA wanted to use our tournament as a reward for all the volunteer work they've donated over the years.<br />
"Since the IGFA is the forefront for this conservation program we gave the observers a bunch of perks such as hotel rooms, invitations to all the tournament events, and the opportunity to go fishing for a day. The prospect to observe an elite group of anglers who were chosen based on their angling abilities, is a once in a lifetime opportunity."<br />
A computer will randomly make a draw of boats over the first two days so most of the teams would have an observer on one of those days. The top teams going into the final rounds on the last two days will have a certified observer on-board.