Monster Shark Tournament Organizers Feel the Heat

The HSUS

Shark tournaments are cruel and wasteful.

For the second year, The Humane Society of the United States spoke out against the Boston Big Game Fishing Club's annual Monster Shark Tournament. The event took place on July 20 and 21 in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

With advertisements in local newspapers, an aerial banner, a boat navigating the Oak Bluffs harbor bearing banners and posters, and a table in the town's Post Office Square, The HSUS educated residents and tourists about the threats to shark populations and the cruelty and waste involved with shark tournaments. The tournaments are recreational killing contests perpetuated by ever larger cash prizes for netting the biggest sharks.

Public Outcry

Both locals and tourists stopped by The HSUS information table to express their disgust at the Monster Shark Tournament. The screening of the critically acclaimed film "Sharkwater" a few days earlier by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society had already created a buzz on the island, raising awareness of the global peril sharks face, and the importance of protecting them.

"It was inspiring to speak to so many Martha Vineyard residents who are concerned about the status of sharks and troubled by the cruelty inflicted on them during these tournaments," said Dr. John W. Grandy, HSUS senior vice president for wildlife and habitat protection. "Clearly, many Islanders believe that it is time to end these grisly and irresponsible killing contests."

Growing Opposition to Cruel Tournaments

Though the Board of Selectmen did not permit The HSUS to stage an official demonstration at the tournament weigh-in, a few local residents made their own signs and headed down to the docks to make their opposition to  known to spectators and the media. Other residents made their own statements by wearing HSUS Protect Sharks buttons and signing petitions asking the Oak Bluffs Board of Selectmen to end the tournament.

Increasing public concern for shark protection is having an effect. This year, cable sports channel ESPN chose not to broadcast the Monster Shark Tournament. And the National Marine Fisheries Service recently proposed tighter regulations on the catching of several declining shark species, including the porbeagle, one of the three species targeted by the Monster Shark Tournament. The HSUS will strongly support the more restrictive regulations and continue to vigorously oppose these tournaments until they are ended permanently.

Andrea Cimino is a campaign coordinator in the Wildlife and Habitat Protection section of The HSUS.