Official Press Release - ORIS National Big Game Tournament 2011

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This is the official Press Release from the Malta Fishing Forum:

The ORIS National Big Game Tournament 2011 In aid of The Puttinu Cares Foundation


On the 26th June, the Malta Fishing Forum successfully conducted its 3rd offshore boat fishing tournament with 80 participating boats from around Malta and Gozo including eight large dedicated support vessels.

The tournament was organised and run by the Malta Fishing Forum (MFF) in collaboration with the Malta Federation of Amateur Fishermen (Federation), and just like previous tournaments, this year the MFF has continued to enhance the level of professionalism and unique aspects.  This was Malta's first National boat fishing tournament, held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. George Abela, President of the Republic of Malta and the first boat fishing tournament to be conducted exclusively on a philanthropic basis. All proceeds from the event were donated to the Puttinu Cares Foundation. This year, the tournament had the largest number of vessels ever taking part in a local offshore fishing tournament, was filmed from the sea and the air, was open to the general public and all members of local fishing clubs, and had the best prizes ever offered to date in a fishing tournament with a total value of over €8000.

Malta's Fisheries Control Department dedicated exclusively to the tournament a special Bluefin Tuna quota of 300kgs, and provided a temporary authorised landing point at the weigh in location for both Bluefin Tuna and Swordfish.

The event organisation committee was headed by Chairman Mr. Joe Baldacchino and Mr Colin Borg Cardona, who commenced work on the tournament back in January 2011, meeting with sponsors and working on the production of Malta's first ever official tournament commemorative magazine. Over three thousand copies were printed and distributed via the various sponsors, including direct distribution to the main marinas around the island. The MFF together with a team from the Federation then worked on the logistics related to the tournament, including the press briefing, the registration and safety briefing and the tournament rules. This year's Tournament Director was Dr. Joe Carabott Damato, secretary of the Federation, and he was assisted by a team of over twenty inspectors, judges and safety boat personnel.

Eighty boats were inspected in the early hours of Sunday morning, before being escorted in groups by support vessels to the starting position just outside of the Malta Freeport. With the support boats in position ahead of each group following a designated bearing, the tournament safety officer on board support boat 'Puttinu 3' commenced a rolling start. At 06:10, with the tournament support aircraft flown by Mr Mark De Marco filming from above, the official start signal was given over the VHF. With the sun just starting to rise from the east, all participating boats accelerated from the rolling start speed of ten knots up to their cruising speed and sped off towards the fishing grounds.


Whilst the prevailing winds on the day were within tournament regulations, it was a challenging day for the participating boats on the West coast of Malta, as they battled 2-3m swells trolling the fishing grounds at six to seven knots. Several crew members experienced nausea and sea sickness, although no calls for assistance were received by the tournament medic who was on board a support vessel.

All vessels were required to either return to the weigh in station at St. George's Jetty, Birzebuggia by 15:00, or notify the tournament directorate of their intention to retire. The competition was won by Mr. Joseph Cassar and his team, who landed a total of ten fish cumulatively weighing 80.38kgs, including a beautiful Mediterranean Spearfish (Pastardella). The biggest fish was a Bluefin Tuna measuring 120cm in length that was landed by Mr. Yanes Desira, and the biggest Alonga was won by Mr. Alexander Fenech whose biggest fish weighed in at an impressive 16.68kgs.

The official awards ceremony was held on the 14th July in Pretty Bay on the beachfront, and was attended by over 160 people who enjoyed a live band, food and drinks kindly provided by Joe "Whippy" Carabott, the presentation of the trophies and prizes from 1st to 10th place. The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a €15,000 cheque by the Organising Chairman Mr Joseph Baldacchino to the Director of the Puttinu Cares Foundation, Dr Victor Calvagna.



The Malta Fishing Forum would like to thank the official tournament partners: Jos. Debono Jewellers, Misterfish and 'Misterfisherman', RLR Yachting, Caruana Marine Centre, Buona Pesca Trading, Pirotta Fishing Centre, The Creative Partners and Guttenburg Press; the Organising Chairman and committee, Tournament Director, Tournament Safety Officer, Tournament Medical Officer, judges and officials, and the owners of the support vessels.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to the tournament corporate sponsors, Medcomms Ltd and Camilleri Marine, the Malta Federation of Amateur Fishermen, the Birzebuggia Local Council and local Police, the Fisheries Control Department, Transport Malta (Maritime Division) and all the other tournament sponsors and advertisers who helped support this philanthropic event.

Nick Palmer-Morewood
Director - Malta Fishing Forum

[malvizzu]

Excellent press release. Well done!!!

[cla144]

Well done guys

[The_Gaffer]

When we started all this, my personal target was to reach the 10,000 Euro mark.  Together, we managed 15,000 Euros.  I still believe, that if we had more people from the forum involved, we could have added at least another 5000 euros. 
Since the presentation ceremony, I have been doing alot of thinking, asking myself a number of questions.  Questions related to my involvement in the tournament, the forum, the charitable cause. 
But my pending question is, should I or should I not involve myself next year.  Honestly, its been a very difficult question to answer.  The small number of people from the forum who involved themselves in this event did nothing to encourage me. 

So if there will be a next year, I have a few ideas:
1.  Organisation needs to start earlier, especially the commemorative magazine
2. There must be a committed number of people who are willing to share the burden.
3.  each sub committee looks after a specific area, e.g. public relations, adverting, sponors, magazine, tournament registration, actual tournament...ect.

If I see that there is sufficient interest from the forum membership, then yes, I'm all in.  The same goes for the forum fishing association, we just cannot remain dependent on a couple of people any longer. 

[caldaland]

im ready to help in anyway i can in the forum fishing association.

[twoutes]

Well Done Guys!!!!!

[caldaland]

From the response the gaffer got fron this tread it looks like the forum fishing association has died before it was born. No wonder our hobby is going down the drain!

[Granitu]

i would be willing to help but time is a concern since my job and studies take a lot of time. PM me if you need anything

[placebo]

no it will not die ..... i suggest you focus more on boat fishing. The Alungi event should never die!

You should consider other boat competitions apart from offshore only. Just browse our neighbours Italy ... they have the FIPSAS which is a federation that organises all type of fishing events. They organise bollentino fishing (hand held lines from boats), big game, drifting, jigging, light trolling and even some other fishing disciplines. They also have the shore fishing ranging from freshwater to saltwater incorporating spinning, float fishing, surf and beach casting.

My suggestion is that you focus more on the boating section and try organising a national team for next year's sport fishing world championships in Spain.

Anyway .... i love sport fishing and it is only the start in Malta and you should never look back .... Gaffer and Co you're doing a great job ..... just look at that magazine and you get the result. Never stop such tournaments and fishing as a sport as it is one of the major drives in local fishing tackle that will encourage more sponsors and will get more money into the sports.

Just keep one thing in mind - Sport Fishing in Malta is as popular as football in winter

[caldaland]

From the response the gaffer got fron this tread it looks like the forum fishing association has died before it was born. No wonder our hobby is going down the drain!

[skip]

I had the pleasure of attending a recent Federation get together and having spent the last few months working with Dr Gogo in his role as Tournament Director, we also chatted a bit about the commitment required for him to be secretary of the Federation.

My own view on this is that if we're going to do something like create a club/association we do it right and at the moment we still have lack of serious committed resources. These things take up a lot of time and dedication for very little in return except self satisfaction....and most of us are busy with our working lives, family and hobbies, not much time is left to run and administer a club/association.

I also don't think it's fair for the onus to always be on the same select few to make these things work, and I also don't think it's healthy. We need fresh blood, fresh ideas and more commitment. I know a few people have kindly volunteered their services, but if we create this association it will need to encompass sub committee's that look after Boat Fishing, Shore Fishing and Spear Fishing.

The entire committee will therefore need to be fairly large and have fairly regular meetings......does everyone have time for all that?

[baghira]

To be fair with all of you I don't especially now.
But I will also be there when I can, as I always did.

[placebo]

focus on boat fishing.

Shore fishing there is already a federation in place, while there is also a spinfishers forum very well organised .... we meet together and start preparing for next year's Spain 2012 sport fishing world championships under one federation .... come on guys there are good possibilities.