The battle lines have been drawn.
For some years now the town of Oak Bluffs has hosted an annual Monster Shark Tournament during a weekend in July. The event is well attended by both fishermen and spectators. But it is also protested regularly.
The battle lines have been drawn.
For some years now the town of Oak Bluffs has hosted an annual Monster Shark Tournament during a weekend in July. The event is well attended by both fishermen and spectators. But it is also protested regularly.
The annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament was back on the hot seat Tuesday, with a state shark biologist giving selectmen a scientific point of view of the tournament, which he said data now shows is largely catch-and-release. Though a local group has petitioned for changes to tournament regulations, the board declined to take any action.
Criticism of the annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament resurfaced at the town selectmen’s meeting this week, with a local group asking the town to reconsider the role it plays in the popular event, citing ethical and environmental concerns with the way sharks are killed and displayed in the town harbor.
MONSTER SPECTACLE
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Public spectacles like the annual monster shark tournament have much in common with the gladiator games conducted in the Coliseum during ancient Roman festivals. Large, adoring crowds immersed in a circuslike atmosphere amid unbridled commercial activity, awaiting the extravaganza of torture, execution and the eventual display of victims.
Oak Bluffs selectmen this week aired complaints about noise and trash from the annual monster shark tournament, a three-day event held last weekend that attracted more than 100 fishing boats to the town harbor and throngs of onlookers.
The organizer of the tournament is Steven James of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club.
This is the weekend of the 24th annual Monster Shark Tournament and as many as 120 recreational fishing boats are expected in Oak Bluffs harbor. They’ll ply the waters south and east of the Vineyard in pursuit of the biggest shark, but only a few fish will be brought ashore.
This event has drawn much attention in recent years, including from animal rights activists, who complain about wasteful killing of sharks in recent years.
