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Sports

Oak Bluffs Demands Meeting with "Monster Shark" Chief

If Steven James wants a permit for his Monster Shark Fishing Tournament this year, he'll have to meet with town officials within the next two weeks, Oak Bluffs selectmen ruled Tuesday.

The man behind the annual Monster Shark Fishing Tournament was not present Tuesday evening when the Oak Bluffs Board of Selectmen was asked to approve his special event permit application for the 2013 tourney, and that didn’t sit well with board chair Kathleen Burton.

“I am personally inclined to postpone (approval) until the applicant is here,” Burton said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, selectmen said they had a number of questions for Steven James of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, the event's organizer.

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Among their concerns were the use of town property for weighing sharks and selling merchandise, and crowd control.

"Unchecked abuse"

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John Breckenridge, who chairs the town’s harbor advisory committee, said that while his group was careful not to take a position on the controversial tournament itself, there were was a “consensus” that “the carrying capacity of the harbor was stretched” by last year’s shark tournament.

The event also overwhelmed both local police and the town’s restroom facilities, Breckenridge continued: 

“Let’s be very honest: There’s been unchecked abuse of alcohol by many of the spectators,” he said.

Selectmen ultimately voted to approve the tournament's permit under the condition that James will come to Oak Bluffs within two weeks to meet with local officials and answer their questions.

A non-binding referendum on the upcoming town meeting warrant asks voters to require that the shark tournament be operated on a catch-and-release basis in future years.

This year's Monster Shark Fishing Tournament is set for July 18, 19 and 20.

For more about the tournament, please see:

  • Shark Tournament Organizer Bites Back
  • Photo Gallery: Monster Shark Tournament
  • Monster Shark Tournament: Awesome or Awful?
  • Shark-killing for Hedonistic Sport and Obscene Profit

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