Articles
August 2005 Newsletter
by Bill Jardine Aug 30, 2005
A ugust is associated with summer heat in most communities, but Waimea is usually breezy and cool with the kipuupuu mists settling over the green hills and forests above town. Each morning now, the bright August sun rises through the morning mist, forming fragments of rainbows for those looking west. It is really a charming thing to experience, and often we see gaily dressed tourists pulled off the side of the road to view these little jewel boxes of color that hug the mist where it meets the dry plains of Waikoloa.
Last week a great fire burned across those same plains from Lalamilo all the way to Waikoloa, consuming many thousands of acres of fountain grass and leaving tons of ash behind to fertilize the bright new shoots that are sure to follow. The fire stormed across the pastures in front of our house for two nights and created a vast plume of dark smoke that drifted out over the sea for many miles. I was out to sea for the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, or the “HIBT”, again this year and was grateful to have a house to return to!
Speaking of the HIBT, it is really quite a unique contest and serves to highlight one of the ugly oddities of Hawaii politics. As you may know, there are many, many fishing tournaments held here in the deep waters of our lee coast. Each Monday, Jim Rizzutto’s column tallies up some of the better fishing stories from the previous week, and each Tuesday the newspaper, West Hawaii Today, features a photo of some grinning fisher-person standing next to a huge fish they have caught. This is one of the best places in the world to catch a Pacific Blue Marlin, and anglers come here form all over the earth to try their luck, and test their skills.
The marlin is an apex predator, meaning that they are at the tippy top of their particular food chain. In my opinion the marlin is also the most violent creature on earth. In fact it seems to have no other interest beyond attacking, feeding and resting. The marlin will strike its prey at incredible speed and with phenomenal power, often attacking a large tuna so hard that it is completely disabled in an instant. The other odd thing about marlin is that they appear to get angry! It is not uncommon to see a marlin attacking something it has no intention of eating. There are many Kona boats that bear the scars of a marlin attack, and some have had marlin bills slammed right through their hulls!
Being an apex predator means that there aren’t going to be very many of you. It takes a whole lot of tuna to support a marlin, just as it takes a whole lot of deer to support a mountain lion or a whole lot of salmon to support an eagle. Marlin are relatively rare, and are becoming much more rare as the factory ships of the world strip our seas of the fish the marlin need to survive. Accordingly, it has become illegal to sell a marlin anywhere in the world … except in Hawaii. Somehow our odd amalgamation of local politicians, who want to close down fishing in most of the archipelago, does not see fit to ban the sale of marlin and encourage its preservation as a species. Unbelievable!
In this same vein, the HIBT is to be commended for being a tag-and-release tournament. It isn’t perfect, and large fish are still taken and weighed, but it is a step in the right direction. The other great thing about the HIBT is that there is no money prize. In other words, it is pure sport with no gambling aspect to it. That is very rare today, and it is a shame that it is. I have a dear friend who works for rich men. These men consider themselves sport fishermen but really are not. They will not fish in any contest that does not offer them a cash prize. In other words, their desire for money has overcome any sportsman-like inclinations they may have had.
The owners of the HIBT are becoming elderly, and one must wonder what the future of this venerable contest holds. Will the sport of fishing be able to survive the money changers? At this point it doesn’t look very hopeful.
Imua,
William N. Jardine
William N. Jardine
