Alaçatı Fishing

Alaçatı Sportfishing Tournament
Tournament Specific Rules

As most Tournaments are, this Sportfishing Tournament is for Recreational Anglers to prove themselves in a civilized and environmentally conscious way; therefore it is all about “angling skills” and “competition ethics”, and certainly not about “bagging as many as possible”.
On the base of IGFA (International Game Fish Association) Saltwater Rules, last year’s 2007 Tournament was the first ever event of its kind and category in Turkey, and some of the Rules had been purposely slackened in order to motivate and initiate most newcomers. Starting from this year 2008, these Rules will be gradually brought back to where they should have been. The following Tournament Specific Rules have therefore been additionally thought and implemented so as to maintain that particular sportsmanship spirit.

Only and strictly “line” fishing is allowed: hand line and/or rod & reel.
Besides trolling, bottom and drift fishing is permitted.
At this time, there will be no record classification made, so line-class category will not be taken into consideration.

Nevertheless, main line class above 90 lbs (35 kg) for both monofilament and Dacron and/or above 1.00mm for mono nylon, is not allowed and will be penalized.
Heavier or wire based materials are allowed only for leader purposes, and are not to exceed 3m in length.

Multiple hook lines are permitted only for bottom fishing and only if the number of hooks per line/gear is not greater than three (3). Multiple hooks on ready made artificial lures (i.e. Rapala, Yozuri plugs etc…) are allowed for trolling.

Any use of FADs (Fish Aggregating/Attracting Devices) of any kind, other than chumming with “natural” baits or materials, is not permitted and will be penalized.
Any use of mechanical, electric, electronic, hydraulic devices, other than regular “conventional” manual reels, to help retrieving the fish, is not allowed and will be penalized.
Any use of non-regular or legally not allowed means and devices such as: nets, longlines, pots, cages, umbrellas, harpoons, arrows, explosives, chemicals, etc… is not permitted and will be penalized.

The use of handled dip nets and gaffs is allowed though, to collect or retrieve the otherwise caught fish.

Especially in case of hand line usage, the use prior or post hook-up of floating devices such as buoys and/or foam blocks and/or sealed containers is not permitted and will be penalized.
Fishing is allowed within the previously announced, published and handed-out boundaries.
Fishing is not allowed within 200m from existing fish farms installations. This will be valid for trolling as well as anchored or drifting boats.
Delayed arrival will be penalized by disqualification for that day only.
Warning: Lines-out time is defined according to a detailed time schedule that will be distributed before the competition. If the fish is on line and tiring it will predictably not be finished before the time determined for lines out for that day, fish must be pulled on boat within 1.5 hour extension, and adequately weighted later. This so called "late hooking” must be obligatorily reported, by radio or mobile phone, together with the boat's location, to one of the judging boats (judges) at least one hour before the end of fishing time for that day. One of “stand by” judges-boats will monitor late hooking!

In the event that a fish is presented to the Weigh-master as a legitimate catch, and it is subsequently proven by the judges that it has not complied with IGFA or Tournament Rules, the boat, crew and team will be disqualified from the whole tournament.
Heavy consumption of alcohol during boating/fishing hours is not allowed and will be penalized. A couple of beers can be tolerated but strong alcohol is not. The whole team/crew can be disqualified in case of evidence.

Boat’s responsibilities and duties.

Equipment – all boats to be equipped with regulatory/mandatory safety equipment. Every boat must carry a fully operational Marine V.H.F. radio, as they will be expected to report to the tournament control at the appropriate call time. Additionally, an optional mobile phone number will be required. Channel 19 or 68 and a mobile phone. Call-up will be on the hour, starting at 07:00 hrs. daily.
People on board – no more than 4 people, including skipper and/or captain, on offshore boats smaller than 36 feet or 11m, no more than 3 on coastal boats smaller than 25 feet or 7.5m.
Boat clearance – No boat may approach closer than 500 meters to any other boat, which is obviously playing a fish and is flying a large red flag.
Boats docking next to each other - Boats (except the supervising ones) are not allowed to dock next to each other, or to go ashore on land or an island during fishing hours. Cases of emergency shall be notified to a judge prior action.
Spending the night on the ship outside the determined harbor after the first AND/OR second fishing day is not allowed. In order to do so verification of the "weighing list" in the morning of each fishing day is needed!!
Paperwork – fishing licenses, boat papers, boat insurances, people insurances, are all the boat’s owner and/or skipper’s responsibilities, and will all need to be in due order before and during the tournament.
Tackle Limit – no more than 7 lines at the same time in the water during fishing will be allowed on offshore boats; no more than 4 on coastal boats.
Boats registered for commercial fishing are definitely not accepted for registration.
Harbor channel transiting behavior – Care should be taken during exit and entry from and to the marina through the harbor channel. A transiting speed of maximum 5 nm/hr (kts) and preferably 4 nm/hr (kts) is mandatory and will be penalized if not observed.

Angler’s responsibilities and duties.

Attention! All the fish from "Tuna" family must be "BLED OUT" and kept in good condition – otherwise they will be neither weighed nor will points be awarded for them!

The changing of hands of the line and/or rod & reel equipment during hooking, fighting and landing of a fish, for whatsoever reason, is forbidden. After a fish is hooked, one fisherman either in "fighting chair" or "stand up" way, (with or without belt) must tire the fish without assistance from others, until the leader line comes within hand reach of assistant (member of the fishing team with four members maximum), because only then assistance is allowed!
Competitors must, without special warning, release “alive” rare, accidentally caught amphibians, for instance, dolphins, sea rays, sea turtles, seagulls – in the case of a dilemma on fish species, judging ship or land referee personnel must be consulted as quickly as possible to allow for eventual release!!
Try your utmost to release smaller Swordfish and Med. Spearfish, and possibly other Gamefish estimated much smaller than allowed size, “alive and unharmed”, by all means!!!

Eligible Species.

The following species will be fished:

	Min.weight/over	Points/kg
Bluefin Tuna	10 kg	5
Albacore Tuna	6 kg	4
Swordfish	12 kg	6
Mediterranean Spearfish	10kg	6
Dorado	5kg	4
OTHER fish species	2kg	3

*points are for per kg.

From previous experience, the most commonly caught "other" fish species are: Little Tunny, Bonito, Bullet & Frigate Tunas, Skipjacks, Barracudas, Greater Amberjack, Leerfish (Garrick), and others.

All sharks, especially “Blue shark”, will not be assigned points; they must be released with careful taking off the hook!

ORGANIZER IS GRADUALLY TRYING TO INTRODUCE "CATCH & RELEASE" PRINCIPLE: For the endangered Swordfish and Spearfish species only, a well documented released catch (crew or certified observer/third party testimony must be supported with video and/or still-frame pictures, all with date and time recorded) may be awarded with 50% extra points based on the judging committee’s evaluation and decision.

Any infringement of one or more of the above Rules will result in disqualification: If fishermen from one boat break these rules, they will all be disqualified from the competition by the judges, without any possibility of complaint, which is obligatorily accepted as a rule by all skippers and/or anglers when they sign the final registration!!
Repeated infringement of any of the rules for two and more consecutive times, days or years will result in further undetermined disqualification and both the vessel, its captain with crew, and the anglers, will be banned from participation in the next tournaments.
The fish caught will be at competition organizer’s disposal.
Cancellation – The dates of the Competition as well as the number of days fishing may be altered in case of bad weather or unforeseen “force majeure” circumstances :

The Tournament Committee, at their discretion, may change the Tournament to 1 day if weather dictates, or cancel Tournament fishing days altogether. There will be no additional make-up weather days for this event as well as no refund of participation fees. If the Tournament fishing can not be conducted as planned due to inclement weather, the Dinner and Entertainment for Saturday or Sunday night will proceed regardless of whether Tournament fishing takes place or not.