
This year, the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament celebrates its 20-year anniversary of promoting billfish catch and release and its support of a top sport-fishing destination: Los Cabos, Mexico. The Los Cabos Hotel Association and Los Cabos Tourism Board originally founded the tournament in 1999 as an event marketing and media program. Along the way, the event helped pioneer the catch/photograph/release system.
With advancements in photography, the tournament will utilize a streamlined catch, video and release system to determine billfish releases. As part of the tournament’s 20th anniversary celebration, the tournament will take the next step to make billfish releases a bigger part of top team determinations.
“Going forward, the point system will be 300 points for blue and black marlin releases, and 50 points for striped marlin, sailfish and spearfish releases,” says tournament director Dan Jacobs. “Weighed blue or black marlin meeting the 300-pound minimum will receive one point per pound in the team division. All undersized marlin brought to the scales will be penalized 300…