2012 Billfish Invitational to Present Tim Choate with Achievement Award at Bimini Big Game Club
February 8, 2012 at 2:15 am | Posted in Billfish Invitational, Bimini Big Game Club, Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Guy Harvey Outpost Ltd. | Leave a commentTags: Bahamas, billfish, Billfish Invitational, Bimini Big Game Club, Black Fly Bimini, fishing tournament, Frank Johnson, Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Guy Harvey Outpost, Hemingway, IGFA, Kent Ullberg, Michael Lerner, sport fishing, The Billfish Foundation, Tim Choate
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 31st, 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.
Date Announced for 3rd Annual Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Bahamas Day at Miami Executive Aviation
February 2, 2012 at 6:02 pm | Posted in Bimini Big Game Club | Leave a commentTags: aviation, Bahamas, Bimini Big Game Club, Guy Harvey Outpost, Miami, Miami Executive Aviation
The Third Annual Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Bahamas Day, sponsored in part by the Bimini Big Game Club, is scheduled to take place February 25th at Miami Executive Aviation. The event is sponsored annually by The Islands of The Bahamas to assist pilots who want to fly their aricraft to The Bahamas. See the press release below for more information. Click here to register!
History of Bimini Bluefin Tuna Fishing Featured in Marlin Magazine
February 2, 2012 at 2:39 pm | Posted in Bimini Big Game Club, Tuna | Leave a commentTags: Bahamas, Bimini Big Game Club, fishing, marlin, peter wright, sport fishing, tuna
If you missed Marlin Magazine’s fascinating January 2012 account of the history of Bimini’s bluefin tuna fishery, then you are in luck – you can now read the full article at the magazine’s web site. The pairing of Peter Wright’s excellent narrative with a collection of nostalgia-inducing photos from the ’50s & ’60s gives an exciting glimpse into the history of the sport fishing capital of the world!
Dive Legend Neal Watson Re-Elected President of the Bahamas Diving Association
January 24, 2012 at 3:29 pm | Posted in Bimini Big Game Club, Dive Bimini | Leave a commentTags: Bahamas, Bimini Big Game Club, Dive Bimini, Guy Harvey Outpost, Neal Watson
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.
Guy Harvey Outpost Club to Open on Rum Cay, Bahamas
November 28, 2011 at 6:21 pm | Posted in Bimini Big Game Club, Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Outpost Ltd. | Leave a commentTags: Bahamas, diving, fishing, Guy Harvey, Guy Harvey Outpost, paddle boarding, Rum Cay, snorkeling, SUP, surfing
Second Location for Guy Harvey Outpost Properties Program
Fort Lauderdale, FL – November 28, 2011 - Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts LTD announced today plans to open its second boutique resort property on Rum Cay in the southern Bahamas. The popular Sumner Point Marina & Villas property is undergoing renovations and reopens this spring as the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina, Rum Cay.
Rum is the southern gateway in and out of the Bahamas, just like Bimini is to the north, so this is a great complement to our system and certainly will be a welcome Outpost for any of our customers spending time further down the island chain,” notes company President, Mark Ellert. The Rum Cay project follows the reopening of the Bimini Big Game Club last year as a Guy Harvey Outpost. Rum Cay is an out-island destination known for its rugged and unspoiled beauty, and daily life on Rum is little changed over the past hundred years.
“Every serious angler or diver has the Southern Bahamas on his or her bucket list, every mariner knows it’s where you put in for fuel and shore leave and with a lack of crowds or development, Rum Cay enthusiasts consider it their own private island retreat,” adds Ellert, who oversees location selection for the firm. “For all these adventure travelers, we intend the Outpost Club & Marina to be the destination of choice in the Southern Bahamas.”
The island has approximately 60 permanent residents and is roughly 50 miles southeast of Georgetown in the Exumas. Conception Island, which is part of the Bahamas National Land and Sea Park sanctuary, figures prominently in the company’s interest.
“Conception is just 10 miles from Rum,” said the company’s chairman, Dr. Guy Harvey, who holds a Ph.D in marine fisheries management. ” In addition to the fantastic diving there, we intend to work with government in expanding the coral and shark research work of the Guy Harvey Research Institute which is a cornerstone of our Outpost program in the Bahamas.”
Named Santa Maria de La Concepcion by Columbus who visited the island on his first voyage to the New World, Rum Cay is believed to have acquired its modern name from a shipwrecked cargo of rum. The island’s most famous shipwreck is that of the 101-gun HMS Conqueror which sank off Sumner Point in 1861, and is now preserved and protected as the Bahamas Underwater Museum.
Widely recognized for its outstanding diving and fishing, Rum Cay is also popular with surfing and kite-boarding enthusiasts, and sky diving over the island is quickly gaining in popularity. This December the resort hosts its second “Jump Boogie”, a weeklong skydiving and kite-surfing event.
“Rum Cay has always interested us because of its unquestionable natural beauty and its top-of-class sporting activities, including extreme sports that appeal to a new generation of Guy Harvey friends and fans,” emphasizes Ned Stone, who leads the company’s “Outpost Pursuits” program. “Surf, kite and paddle boards are the new beach sports, and we intend to bring our top-of-class DNA to these as we’ve done for fishing and diving.”
The Sumner Point Marina is situated on the southeast tip of Rum Cay. The marina and adjoining club facilities have been owned and operated by the Little family since 1960. Known for its protected marina, picturesque beachside cottages and gourmet dining, the property exudes the bohemian flair of its owner and artist-in-residence, Bobby Little.
“It’s time for our family to take this incredible property to the next level”, remarked Bobby Little in announcing the conversion of his boutique resort. “I was raised on Rum, as has my son. With our renovations and the support of the Guy Harvey Outpost brand and management, I expect our property to become a beacon for sustainable tourism in the Southern Bahamas. I can’t think of a better legacy for our family, for the Bahamas or for anyone who has come to call us their island home.”
For more information, visit Guy Harvey Outpost.
Guy Harvey Promotes Call to Protect Bahamian Sharks
March 2, 2011 at 6:17 pm | Posted in Guy Harvey | Leave a commentTags: Bahamas, Guy Harvey, shark conservation
Nassau, The Bahamas – March 2, 2010 – Dr. Guy Harvey, world-renowned scientist and marine wildlife artist, has joined the growing ranks of individuals and organizations calling for strict regulations to ban the commercial fishing of all sharks in The Bahamas. In support of the program, Harvey is releasing a custom-designed “Protect Bahamian Sharks” campaign logo and poster this week while visitingNassau to meet with government officials.
“These magnificent animals have been admired for years by divers visiting The Bahamas and revered by people around the world as one of the great wonders of the ocean,” said Dr. Harvey. “However, many species of sharks are now being driven to the brink of extinction by over-exploitation, fueled mostly by the Far East’s demand for shark fin soup.”
“Due to a ban on longline fishing gear in the 1990s led by The Bahamas National Trust, Bahamian waters are one of the few places in the world with relatively healthy shark populations,” said Eric Carey, Executive Director of The Bahamas National Trust. “The Bahamas is now one of the premier shark-watching destinations for divers, reeling in US$800 million over the past 20 years for the national economy, according to the Bahamas Diving Association.”
Even with the ban on longlining gear, sharks are still considered at-risk in Bahamian waters due to other methods of fishing. “There are currently no specific laws in The Bahamas protecting these amazing creatures,” said Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation for the The Pew Environment Group. “We are working with The Bahamas National Trust to raise awareness to establish measures that will conserve healthy shark populations before it is too late.”
Scientists with the International Union for Conservation of Nature have estimated that 30 percent of shark and ray species around the world are threatened or near-threatened with extinction. The loss of these animals could cause irreversible damage to the ocean’s ecosystem and result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in the tourist trade.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS
The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that works globally to establish pragmatic, science-based policies that protect our oceans, preserve our wildlands and promote clean energy.
The Bahamas National Trust was established by an Act of Parliament in 1959 and is mandated with the conservation of natural and historic resources of The Bahamas. The BNT is the only known non-governmental organization in the world with the mandate to manage a country’s entire national park system. For more information, contact 1-242 393-1317, visit our web site.
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