The official launch of the 12th annual Hook 'n' Line Fishing Tournament was held on Friday at the Sunset Resort. The tournament which will be held on October 18 - 20, Heroes Weekend, promises to be bigger and better than ever. Proceeds from this tournament will be donated to BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation.

Mrs. Norma Moxam gave the welcome with Mrs. Sheila Hamilton offering the prayer. Greetings were given by Jason Henzell.

This year the tournament has opened up to include Whitehouse and Alligator Pond fishermen. The invitation and welcome was made by Elise Wiggan. Milton Salmon representing the Whitehouse fishermen, in a friendly rivalry tone, warned that the Whitehouse fishermen would be bringing home all the prizes. Everol Christian (Blackie) representing the Alligator Pond fishermen continued with the friendly rivalry by stating the "Pond" fishermen were the most courageous and for the Treasure Beach fishermen to be forewarned. Lots of laughter and applause followed.

Minister Tufton gave the main address stating he was happy to promote such a positive activity bringing communities together in aid of the worthy cause of raising funds for BREDS. He further stated this tournament is a perfect opportunity to promote best practices in sustainable fishing and on Friday of this week he was proposing eight fishing sanctuaries to open throughout the coastline of Jamaica with the South Coast sanctuary to be located off Galeon Beach near Whitehouse. In addition, a major clean-up was planned for the Pedro Cays including the building of proper sanitary conveniences and housing an environment studies office right on the Cays.

The vote of thanks was given by Ms. Tamesha Dyght and Mrs. Tanya Parchment-Brown led in in the closing song of the National Anthem.

You can sign up for the tournament at Jakes or at the Calabash Bay Fishing Coop. The cost is $200 per person. Once you register you will be given a copy of the rules of the tournament.

There will be a concert held on Sunday night at Jack Sprat in honor of the 4 fishermen recently lost at sea. All proceeds from this concert will go towards the education of the children of these fishermen. I am awaiting further details of this concert and will post them as I receive them.

The tournament will come to a close on Monday at the Calabash Bay Beach with prizes being awarded. Come one and all!

Check out the Photo Gallery for photos of the launch. http://treasurebeach.net/guide/pg/gallery/frame.cfm

Sponsors of this tournament include:

Jakes
Sunset Resort
YS Waterfalls
Little Ochie
Red Stripe Light
Rainforest Seafood
Caribbean Producers
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Division
Tankweld Metals
Power 106
99 Music

Great news! was the Antenna issue brought forward?

The antenna was mentioned in one of the speeches as a BREDS project. It may very well have been discussed before or after the program among folks attending the event.

I just spoke with Dennis Abrahams and he said over $40,000 was spent on repairs to the antenna recently. The antenna was up and running beautifully for a few days and then went back down again. They now need to raise more funds to bring someone in to diagnose the problem. They are hoping some funds raised by this tournament can be used for this purpose.

A concert will be held on Sunday October 19th, as a fundraiser for the eight children of the four fishermen lost at sea in July. All ticket sales and gate entry fees will be for this initiative. Profits made from food and drinks sold will also be donated to this cause.

The cost is $300 per person. Gate opens at 7 p.m. We will have performances from local church groups, Gregory Isaacs, Dean Fraser and Amerijah Production from the USA - Special thanks to Sandra Merton for arranging these persons to perform, she is a GOD bless.

We will also have a video being shown on best practices for the fishing industry by the Nature Conservancy. We encourage everyone to come out and support this worthy cause.

Money raised will be evenly distributed amongst the eight children and will be placed in an account for their educational needs. Parents will not be allowed to withdraw all the money at once, but on a periodic basis.

Thanks as always Rebecca - it's a challenging time for all.

The Concert will be held at Jack Sprat Seafood & Pizza Restaurant.