ST. GEORGE TOPS PARISH OUTBOARD COMPETITION

FOR the second year running, the Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament Committee has partnered with Grenada Fisheries Division, to host the Grenada Parish Outboard Competition for small commercial fishermen. The competition took place on Wednesday, January 23, 2013.

This year, the Committee and Grenada Fisheries were able to pool resources and extend the competition to include island-wide participation including sister isle, Carriacou. A total of 45 fishermen from five parishes participated in this year’s event.

Elvis Alexis from the parish of St. George receives his prize
for taking first place with an aggregate weight catch of 415 lbs.

Sponsors and winners of the fishermen tournament.

Participating fishermen were allowed to catch any type of fish, excluding fish from the billfish species such as Marlin, Sail Fish and Spearfish. The day’s catch was tallied at the various fisheries depots in each participating parish. Results were announced and prizes presented to fishermen with the highest aggregate weight catch on Friday, January 25, at the Grenada Yacht Club.

“The fishermen worked very hard to earn their living and this is one of the ways we have identified to reward them for their contribution to our communities and the country’s GDP,” noted Johnson St. Louis, Senior Fisheries Officer.

Elvis Alexis from the parish of St. George captured first place with an aggregate weight catch of 415 lbs. Jude Sylvester, also from St. George, and Nillon George, of St. Andrew, placed second and third with 164 lbs and 154 lbs respectively.


Prizes awarded were carefully considered, keeping in mind the needs of the fishermen. These included coolers for storage of fish, life vests part-sponsored by RUBIS, mobile handsets provided by LIME, cases of Carib Beer and finally Anti-fouling Paint and Lacquer sponsored by Sissons Paints.

The top placed boats for each parish were also awarded with anti-fouling paints from Sissons Paints.

Richard McIntyre, Chairman of the Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament, commented: “It has long been a vision of the Committee to include the local fishermen in a tournament of this kind. We are very pleased with the level of this year’s participation and would like to see the competition grow each year. The support of the fishing community as well as our sponsors – RUBIS, Sissons Paints, LIME and CARIB – have contributed tremendously to the success of this year’s event.”

Both the Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament Committee and Grenada Fisheries expressed their desire to continue the competition and are looking forward to another successful event in 2014.

Top placed boats for each parish

Name Boat   Parish Aggregate catch weight

Elvis Alexis Help Yourself St. George 415 lbs
Nillon George Dog Fish         St. Andrew 154 lbs
Crispin Joseph Leish St. John         106 lbs
Aaron Alexander Khent St. Mark         22 lbs
Herbert Placid Yellow Bird Carriacou 16 lbs