By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

The signs for South Portland’s annual “Fishing for a Cure” Casco Bay Classic Sharkfishing Tournament are big and bright and the fishing boats can be loud, but those watching the very first shark being brought in last weekend – a 6-foot-2-inch, 162 pound Mako that took Jeremy Tsakiris 45 minutes to wrestle out of the bay – did so quietly. In a matter of minutes National Marine Fisheries Lisa Natanson transformed the fish into several large cuts of meat Tsakiris and his friends stored away in coolers, later to be donated to charity, and made sure to provide representatives from the University of New England and Southern Maine Community College with portions to be used in research experiments across the country.

“It was a lot of work,” Tsakiris said, adding that the crew aboard “Off the Rocks” had caught several other sharks but released them per the tournament’s catch-and-release size limits.

All proceeds collected from the tournament, vessel fees and sponsor donations, are being sent to the ALS Association to help fund research for a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease and most of the meat will be donated to local food kitchens, tournament committee member Jeff Irish said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t even have enough [meat],” Irish said. “We were hoping to provide three kitchens but we only had enough to give to two.”

Although Irish said it is still too early to tell how much money the tournament has generated from this years’ catch, last year the tournament donated more than $12,500 to the ALS Association.

However, not everyone is impressed by the philanthropy.

 Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Senior Vice President for Wildlife and Habitat Protection John Grandy calls the tournament’s 2008 goal of $18,000 a “smoke screen of justification.”

In addition to a full-page advertisement appearing in local newspapers referring to shark fishing tournaments as “grotesque displays,” the HSUS sent a letter to the ALS foundation questioning the ethics behind receiving funds generated by activity that, according to the letter, results in the “suffering and wasteful death of sharks.” 

“We’ve had a long talk with the folks at ALS, and they’ll have to take a look at it but will thoroughly reevaluate this next year,” Grandy said. “We’re asking this be the last tournament ever.”

Irish said the contest has been affected by negative publicity in the past, although he said oftenthe HSUS overlooks the details in protesting against local events. He said the sharks featured in the Sentry advertisement are native to the west coast.

Despite possible errors in their campaign against shark fishing tournaments, Grandy said the HSUS was “beginning to get some good traction” in convincing organizations like the ALS Association to refuse funding from shark tournaments. 

“At this point we’re being very gentle,” he said. “Advertisements make the point that these tournaments are awful.”