Over two days 15 boats pulled in more than a tonne of fish from the waters off Virgin Gorda. In addition to that catch, BVI Tourist Board officials hope the Annual Spanish Town Fishermen’s Jamboree will lure something else to the territory: tourist dollars.
Fifteen boats from the Virgin Islands, the United States VI and St. Maarten competed for $10,000 in prizes as part of this year’s Wahoo Madness.
The tournament, which is in its 15th year, is sponsored by the BVITB as part of its attempt to develop sport fishing as a niche market, according to BVITB Chairman Neil Blyden.
“As we grow, the Tourist Board has seen fit that we have to start incentivising all of the various programmes that we have,” he said. “Now that we are bringing boats here, we have to show that [we] are part of the circuit.”
See the April 28, 2011 edition for full coverage.