Third Location for Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts Program

Miami, Fla. (FEBRUARY 16, 2012)— Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts and Marinas today announced plans for opening its third resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida, with the rebranding and renovation of the popular TradeWinds Sandpiper Suites to reflect the hospitality company’s emphasis on marine conservation and outdoor pursuits. To be branded the Guy Harvey Outpost, a TradeWinds Resort, the 211-room beachfront resort represents the company’s first Florida property, complementing its two projects in the Bahamas Out-Islands of Bimini and Rum Cay.

“The Tampa Bay/St. Pete area is a perfect fit for our first ever Guy Harvey Outpost in the U.S.,” remarked Guy Harvey in announcing plans for the conversion. “Not only does the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation support a number of marine research organizations and conservation initiatives in the area, but there are a seemingly endless amount of outdoor activities in the Tampa Bay region to keep our Outpost guests busy.”

“Florida has some 1,200 miles of beachfront but only one where the Gulf meets Tampa Bay. One great beach and two amazing bodies of water make for endless water sport activities and a great resort setting to use as your base camp,” commented Mark Ellert, Outpost president. “Conde Nast Traveler magazine selected St. Pete Beach as one of the top six Florida resort destinations in its latest edition, so we’re in good company with our decision to put a flag here.”

Designated a “Blue Wave” beach by the national non-profit Clean Beaches Council, St. Pete Beach meets the council’s highest criteria for water quality, cleanliness, safety, maintenance and conservation efforts. The Guy Harvey Outpost is situated at the center of St. Pete Beach.

In converting to a Guy Harvey Outpost, owner and manager of the property TradeWinds Island Resorts intends to further its commitment to bringing conservation and recreation together.  “The resort was the first to receive the coveted ‘Two Palm Florida Green Lodge’ designation for our ongoing conservation initiatives,” notes Keith Overton, president of TradeWinds Island Resorts.  “By teaming up with Guy and his Outpost hotel brand, we’re boldly underscoring our company’s commitment to his vision that the future of sustainable tourism sits at the intersection of conservation, education and recreation.”

Water sports are virtually unlimited in the Tampa/St. Pete area, notes Captain Ned Stone, Outpost Programs Director.  “You’ll run out of time before you run out of things to do in the area.”  Ticking off the many water sport pursuits, Stone adds “there’s world class offshore and backcountry fishing, scuba diving on mysterious wrecks, dolphin encounters, a life-time of back country kayak and stand up paddle boarding, kiteboarding and surfing.”

Tim Choate in Bimini with his first blue marlin, 1962

Ft Lauderdale, FL, USA – February 7, 2012—Captain Ned Stone, Tournament Director for the 2012 Billfish Invitational, confirmed today the Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort will host the tournament from May 30 – June 2. At a special dinner event on May 31^st, renowned conservation advocate, international sport fishing angler and entrepreneur Tim Choate will be presented the Frank Johnson Trophy for Personal Achievement in the Advancement of Big Game Sport Fishing. The Billfish Invitational was launched last year to celebrate the reopening of the legendary Bimini Big Game Club, now operating as a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort.

In announcing Choate’s selection, Guy Harvey, Chairman of Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts added, “Tim’s visionary and passionate commitment to billfish conservation and the operation of top-of-class sport fishing operations in Costa Rica, Guatemala and more recently Brazil and the Galapagos have pretty much shaped international recognition and respect of these countries for their robust conservation practices and dedication to healthy and sustainable recreational fisheries.”

Choate is a co-founder of the prestigious Billfish Foundation, an organization dedicated to billfish research and conservation and the promotion of circle hook fishing techniques. “He has been and continues to be a driving force behind today’s worldwide Billfish conservation movement” notes Harvey. “Every marlin angler today owes a debt of gratitude to Tim for his tireless work to protect billfish from irresponsible fishing practices.”

Commenting on his nomination, Choate noted, “The honor of receiving this perpetual trophy at the Bimini Big Game Club brings me full circle with my passion for marlin fishing and growing up in South Florida. I caught my first blue marlin here in Bimini in 1962.”  A big game fishing enthusiast by nature, Choate is angling to win the tournament outright. “I have probably some 50,000 billfish catches to my name and those of our boats, but I’m leaving nothing to chance. I’ve got legendary charter captain Bouncer Smith and my daughter Stephanie as an angler. We fish together around the world, but winning this tournament in Bimini at the Big Game Club would be a truly memorable accomplishment for me and my family.”

The winning billfish team is presented the Hemingway-Lerner Trophy, a Kent Ullberg sculpture commissioned by the Club to recognize “Friendship, teamwork and the pursuit of Excellence.” Both trophies are on permanent display at the Big Game Club. The tournament is a charity event that donates all net proceeds for the exclusive benefit of conservation and education programs in Bimini. The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation administers the funds in concert with the International Game Fish Association.

About Tim Choate 

Tim Choate has been an ardent angler since moving to Islamorada from New York City as a boy in the mid-1950s.  His Florida Keys childhood fostered an enthusiasm for offshore fishing, particularly in Bimini and Cat Cay.  While earning his law degree from the University of Miami in 1974, his 19- foot center console was a fixture at the Big Game Club. Choate gave up a successful Miami law practice in 1982 to form Artmarina to pursue the sport fishing business and travel the world in pursuit of big game records. In 1984 he acquired Striker Aluminum Yachts and through the years his Artmarina subsidiary has managed numerous charter fishing operations and lodges throughout Central and South America, including Guatemala’s famed Fins ‘N Feathers. Choate pioneered the use of socioeconomic studies by governments and conservation groups to validate the correlation of billfishing conservation and tourism. These efforts lead to the creation of the Billfish Foundation which he co-founded with the late Win Rockefeller and the establishment of the Presidential Challenge Conservation Series, Central America.  He remains a tireless advocate of billfish conservation legislation both in the United States and worldwide.

February 2, 2012 (Gainesville, FL) – A record five graduate students at universities in Florida have been awarded $5,000 scholarships as winners of the Guy Harvey Scholarship Award, recognizing their outstanding achievement in marine science research.

The winners are Felipe Carvalho and Sarah Stephens, University of Florida; M. Laura Habegger, University of South Florida; Sean Bignami, University of Miami; and Kier Smith, Florida Atlantic University.

The scholarship, established in 2010 through a partnership between Florida Sea Grant and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, recognizes students at Florida universities whose research focuses on novel strategies for improving sustainable management of large marine fish and sharks.

“Originally, the Guy Harvey Foundation had planned on providing two scholarships,” says Florida Sea Grant director Karl Havens. “However, when they saw the high quality of applicants, the foundation was tremendously generous in deciding to support the research of five students.

“Clearly the innovative work proposed by these students will have major impacts in regard to meeting the objective of the award.”

Since the award was established three years ago, $24,000 in scholarships has been given to six students at Florida universities. Recipients also receive a certificate designed and signed by well-known marine wildlife artist and conservationist Guy Harvey.

Synopsis of the Winning Applications

Carvalho is conducting research related to the management of blue shark populations in the Atlantic Ocean. His research is about supporting the training of scientists and technicians to use remote sensing methods to track movement of these large predators.

Stephens is working with fishing guides in three Caribbean regions to teach them how to use dart tags to track the movements of permit, working in cooperation with the Bonefish Tarpon Trust.

Habegger is studying how the principles of physics and engineering can be used to understand the role of the bill when billfishes feed, in hopes of discovering practical management strategies, such as specialized fishing gear that reduces by-catch in commercial fisheries, or reduces stress on billfish caught in recreational tournaments.

Bignami is studying how the changing chemistry of marine waters as a result of ocean acidification might affect the early development of large marine fish, using mahi mahi and cobia as case studies.

Smith is developing and testing a method for treating fishing hooks with a graphite and zinc mixture which in preliminary tests appears to be effective in keeping sharks from biting the hooks. The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of sharks caught in long-line commercial fisheries.

The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation is an organization of philanthropists, conservationists, scientists and educators that emphasizes sensible strategies for promoting ocean conservation and the development of the next generation of marine scientists. The foundation funds research and educational programs developed by universities, colleges, institutes and nonprofit organizations.

Click here to learn more about the Guy Harvey Scholarship and the work of its past winners.

Stephanie George shows off her first wahoo catch. Photo by Capt. Skipper Gentry.

The new year got off to a great start in Bimini. In January, we caught a little bit of everything, from a scale bending 101.4 pound wahoo to a bright, beautiful sailfish that was hooked up and later released by a couple of newlyweds. As is customary this time of year, we also landed some big bull dolphins and several nice yellowfin tuna. The one thing all this action had in common – we caught everything right out front between Bimini and Cat Cay.

February is a great month to be in Bimini, with a wide range of target species in good numbers. We should see a few blue marlin showing up in the current edges, somewhere in the range of 600 to 1200 feet of water. Successful anglers targeting blues will be pulling mainly artificial. The blue marlin bite was pretty strong last year and should be the same this year.

For anglers wanting to do some high speed trolling, the wahoo bite will be in full swing this month. Zig zagging between 120 to 450 feet of water from Bimini to Ocean Cay will be the most productive grounds for wahoo. If you’re just looking for table fare, ballyhoo on mono, as well as a few #9 wire rigs, will produce a few wahoo, as well as a few dolphin. And, as always, deep dropping for yelloweye and queen snapper is an awesome way to guarantee a great meal for the entire crew.

FORECAST BY : Capt. Skipper Gentry 

Bimini Big Game Club/ Guy Harvey Outpost Resort 

Phone: (305) 320-3011 or (242) 347-3391 

Email: skipper@carolinagnetleman.net 

Ned Stone and Vaughn Cochran hang the artist's self-portrait during preparations for an exhibition of Vaughn's work at the IGFA.

From Vaughn Cochran – artist, conservationist, fly fishing guru and proprietor of Bonefish Bimini at the Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina:

You are invited to attend the GRAND OPENING of my newest art exhibition at the IGFA Hall of Fame Museum in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. There will be a reception in the main entry to the Museum on Wednesday, January 25th from 5 to 7 pm serving food and drink. The exhibit will run until April 15th.

ABOUT THE SHOW

The invitation to do this show arrived at the same time I decided to venture into the difficult world of portraits. Not just any portraits but drawings and paintings of the legends of the industry, following the path I chose years ago to create art that spoke about the images, ideas and concepts of the fishing industry….the tools, the colors, boats, familiar scenes and of course the fish.  Degas painted dancers and Andy Worhol through his colorful paintings, silkscreen prints and sculptures elevated everyday items of the popular culture into the art world, (where the term “Pop” came from). This would be my chance to elevate the icons of fishing and to explore bringing my interpretation of my friends to the walls of the IGFA. What better way to force myself to actually execute the idea of contemporary portraits from conception to “hanging a show”.

Each piece in this show could be a starting point for another show, paintings that would be take offs, exploring the concepts that were established in that particular painting. I’m sure you’ll see these thoughts again in paintings somewhere down the road, as every artist is always asking the same question…where do I go from here? Should I keep painting the same thing over and over again or should I take a chance and risk failure?

Take a chance…..failure is not an option!

I hope you enjoy the show.

THE BAHAMAS—JANUARY 24, 2012— Dive legend and businessman Neal Watson has been re-elected for another two-year term as President of the Bahamas Diving Association.

Stuart Cove, owner of Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas in Nassau and Stuart Cove’s Tiger Beach Safaris on Grand Bahama Island, was re-elected vice president.

Watson and celebrated marine artist, scientist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey joined forces last year to open Neal Watson’s Dive Bimini at the Bimini Big Game Club in Alice Town.

Watson has been a pioneer in the dive resort business starting his first dive operation in Freeport, Bahamas in 1965. He has been involved in owning and operating hotels, establishing a chain of dive operations, working in the treasure salvage business, stunt coordinator for the movie and TV industry, owned and operated an airline charter company and established a chain of Neal Watson’s Undersea Adventure franchise dive operations in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

In 1985 Watson moved to Fort Lauderdale from Bimini and established Neal Watson’s Undersea Adventures as a Florida Corporation.  Shortly thereafter he started USA Travel Network, Inc., which is an ARC accredited tour company specializing in diving and adventure sports travel.

Watson currently serves on the Board of Directors of DEMA (Dive Equipment & Marketing Association), which is the World Trade Association for the diving industry; and is Chair of the Bahamas Dive Marketing Committee, which is responsible for recommending budget expenditures for the Bahamas Ministry Tourism for the Bahamas Government Dive Market Promotions.

Personal achievements include breaking the World’s Scuba Depth Record, diving 437 feet on compressed air as well as breaking the World’s Underwater Distance Record by swimming 66 miles underwater, non-stop without surfacing.

From the Post & Courier (Charleston, SC) – Sunday, January 1, 2012

The recent reporting of the recovery of a tagged yellowfin tuna comes as a surprise to fisheries biologists.

The tag, sent from the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries in Shizuoka, Japan, was just received by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources‘ (DNR) Marine Resources Division.

The tagged fish measured about 68 inches, weighed approximately 189 pounds, and was captured on May 26, 2010 off the west coast of Africa off Mauritania.

The fish was initially tagged by a volunteer angler participating in the Marine Division’s game fish tagging program on April 20, 2001, just south of Cat Island in the Bahamas. At the time of tagging, the juvenile yellowfin was just shy of 15 pounds.

This is the first recapture of a yellowfin tuna in the history of the program, which began in 1974.

“What makes this recovery exciting,” said Robert Wiggers, a DNR fisheries biologist who administers the tagging program, “is that 151 yellowfin have been tagged and released by volunteers, but none have been recovered until now.

This fish was at large for nine years, packed on about 174 pounds and was recaptured close to 4,000 miles from where it was initially tagged.”

As evident from this tag recovery, Atlantic yellowfin tuna are a highly migratory species and thus are a target species for both domestic and international fisheries. This fact should be of interest to recreational anglers when considering the impacts on the overall population of such fisheries.

Guy Harvey accepts a certificate of appreciation from CITA President, Harry Lalli and Acting Chief Officer, Leonard Dilbert during the Kittiwake Sinking Anniversary Reception at the Governor’s House. The event was held in recognition of the one year anniversary of the ship's sinking as an artificial reef.

Grand Cayman – January 5, 2012 – In celebrating the first anniversary of the sinking of the USS Kittiwake as an artificial reef, The Cayman Islands Tourism Association recently presented Cayman resident and celebrated marine wildlife artist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey with a certificate of appreciation.

An ardent supporter of the project, Dr. Harvey was on hand a year ago and photographed the sinking of the USS Kittiwake and its short journey to the bottom, 64ft below the surface off the north end of Seven Mile Beach.  The Guy Harvey Research Institute served as one of the many original sponsors of the effort to make the USS Kittiwake an artificial reef. The effort received substantial support from the local dive and business communities as well as the government.

Watch the video below to take an underwater video tour of the USS Kittiwake with Guy: