The North Carolina State Supreme Court listened to both attorneys as the battle over the prize money details were fought over ferociously. It’s a rather large fishing tournament prize pot, $1 million, and the first, second and third fishing crew in line to win don’t want to take their hands off it. If you hadn’t heard of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament before you certainly know of it now. The record Blue Marlin 883-pounds caught by the fishing charter Citation and its crew are in a battle over the prize money.
Tournament officials say the Citation broke the rules
The Citation fishing boat was about 25 miles off the coast of Morehead City and the marlin was doing all it could to break free’ twisting, diving, jumping. Now the fishing crew is in for the fight of their lives to get back the one-million-dollar prize they so well deserved and fished for during the 2010 marling tournament. At the time the fish was hooked the tournament officials claim the North Carolina out-of-state- fishing license was not yet purchased. But Peter Wann, the fishing charter’s first mate claims he bought a blanket license that covered the entire fishing crew.
The attorneys for the Citation, Andy Gay and Derren Jackson, “a fishing license should withhold the prize”
Disqualification and withholding the prize money to the Citation, say the attorneys for the men who hauled in the marlin tournament record 883-pound for the win and the prize, is a misstep. The fishing crew of the Citation have fished in tournaments all over the world and never before has the application of the rules been so detrimental. They argue a disqualification is necessary only when the competitive edge or means used is extreme.
The attorneys for the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament claim the courts have no business in the decision making over the prize money and the decision should be left up to the tournament officials.
The court hearing took 90-minutes
On a case that may take months to decide. The Citation attorneys, Gay and Jackson are pushing for a trail-by-jury so a different judge can hear the case. The fishing crew of the Citation have already had to wait days just to get the marlin officially weighed.
The lawyers for the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament hope the original order stands and the tournament official’s decision rules.
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