A man participating in this weekend's Oak Bluffs Monster Shark tournament was injured Friday afternoon when a blue shark bit him on the forearm.

Peter Phillips, 36, of Taunton was fishing more than 10 miles off the Island's South Shore in the boat Sea Tern when he landed a large blue shark, tournament officials said. When he attempted to bring the shark on board the boat, Mr. Phillips was struck on his outstretched forearm.

"Apparently, the shark just lunged out at him," Edgartown deputy police chief Paul Condlin said.

Mr. Phillips and the Sea Tern crew sped to Memorial Wharf in Edgartown harbor, where they were met by local police and emergency medical technicians. EMTs treated Mr. Phillips at the scene, and transported him to Martha's Vineyard Hospital via ambulance.

"He had a couple of lacerations on his arm," Mr. Condlin said.

Medical staff at Martha's Vineyard Hospital treated Mr. Phillips for cuts and released him later in the day. Tournament officials said he received 28 stitches for his injury.

Friday's bite was the most serious shark-related incident in the nine-year history of the Oak Bluffs tournament, said official shark weighmaster and state marine biologist Gregg Skomal. He said the incident, while not life-threatening, demonstrates the dangerous side of deep-sea shark fishing.

"This accident serves as a reminder that these sharks possess a formidable set of teeth and if touched, molested or bothered, they will bite," Mr. Skomal said.

Mr. Skomal, who talked to Mr. Phillips when the fisherman arrived at the hospital, said the accident occurred when Mr. Phillips' arm became tangled up in his leader wire. Shark fishermen pull the leader wire close to the boat when a shark is caught so they can either release or gaff the fish in the water, he said.

Apparently, both Mr. Phillips's arm and the blue shark became entangled in the leader wire, resulting in the accident.

Mr. Skomal said the blue shark is not particularly dangerous, but will grow agitated when captured. "The blue shark will twist in the water, and get tangled in the leader wire," he said.

He emphasized that the blue shark did not launch an unprovoked attack on Mr. Phillips, and was merely reacting to being pulled toward the boat. "When these sharks get very close to the boat, they will close their eyes, and, in a state of panic, bite down on anything," he said. "His arm was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

While the bite was the first of its kind in the Oak Bluffs event, Mr. Skomal said this type of accident is fairly commonplace for shark tournaments. "We've had thousands of sharks captured over the years without problems," he said. "But when it happens, it always seems to involve the arms or hands."