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Prime Minister Opens Samoa International Game Fishing Tournament

On May 17th, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi opened the 8th Samoa International Game Fishing Tournament which he said "has become an important fixture on our Sports and Tourism Calendar". The event which used to be held in August, was changed to be held over 5 days between May 17 and May 22nd this year.

Commenting on the reduction in catch sizes of recent tournaments he said that "even the so called experts are divided and advancing all sorts of theories of why this happens, such as the El Nino effect, global warming, changes in currents and over fishing by United States, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean fishing fleets"

He added, "But I like the Samoan explanation, which in our language is 'E le valea foi nei fanau'. In Game Fishing language it means, 'The fish are getting smarter'."

Before declaring the competition open he thanked Nofoatolu Peter Meredith and the organising committee for the work they put into the preparations for this years event.

The results of the 2004 tournament are available here