Virgin Island's angler Chuck Senf started the USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament in 1972. Senf and fellow sports fishermen created this tournament as a vehicle to spread the word about the great Blue Marlin fishery in the Virgin Islands.
In addition, the money
generated by the tournament was donated to
benefit the Virgin Islands Council of the
Boy Scouts of America, one of Senf's favorite
charities. The USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin
Tournament has since been informally known
as the "Boy Scout" Tournament.
Over the next several years,
as the originators of the tournament became
less active, a new generation of volunteers
took over (early 1980's) and infused fresh ideas. The major
goal of the tournament during this transition
time, was to create a competition that would
attract both the local fishermen and the visiting
anglers from the continental United States.
Concurrent with the transition
in the tournaments leadership, was the ABMT's development of the
"modified release" format, a scoring method
that allows anglers to either boat or release
their catches. Subsequently, the USVI Open/Atlantic
Blue Marlin Tournament became the first fishing event in the world to release Blue
Marlin. Since the development of it's "modified release" format - there has only been 3 blue marlin put on the dock! What amazes most, is the fact that the "minimum weight" requirement for twenty-five years was just 400 lbs. With each tournament averaging 130+ blue marlin (avg. size 280 lbs.), it's obvious that the anglers and crews did not want to kill the fish weighing more than 400 lbs. Much of the success is due to the use of highly competent observers.
In 2003 (31st. year of operation) the minimum requirement was raised to the weight of a "Potential World Record." If a boated blue marlin weighs enough to become a new world record, the angler is rewarded the same number of points as a released fish. If the fish under weighs - no points are earned.
To construct a tournament
that the Florida, as well as local fishermen,
would be sufficiently enticed to enter, necessitated
a precise set of rules. In addition
to the basic, International Game Fishing Association
(IGFA) rules, the Tournament Director began
writing a special set of regulations which
would tighten and expand on those proffered
by IGFA.
Today, the
tournament has a new set of goals. This time, it intends to operate a series of tournaments named The Bermuda Triangle Series. The purpose is to lure in the best anglers in the world! To most, winning the "Boy Scout" is a life goal, now to win at a series of events of the same design - is carrying the angler and crew challenge to a new level!
