Rules

• Boats are to be equipped with regulatory/mandatory safety equipment. Every boat must carry a fully operational Marine VHF radio, as they will be expected to report to the tournament control at the appropriate call time. No excuses accepted! Technical failure must be reported to Committee a.s.a.p. Additionally, an optional mobile phone number will be required. Channel 11 and a mobile phone. Boats shall communicate between themselves on Ch 12 after appointment on Ch 11. Channel 11 will be dedicated to Organization, catches and emergencies only. Call-up will be at the judges’ discretion and at random, starting at 07:30 hrs. Answering the calls is mandatory. Not answering the calls more than once will be considered as non-function fault and will generate a cause for penalty. In case a boat notices such an unanswered call by a neighbouring boat due to technical reasons, it is requested to act as intermediary. A boat not receiving or not returning a call for over 2 hours must notify his whereabouts to the referee boat by cell phone or any other means.
• It is obligatory to notify a catch by providing position by area, species and estimated weight. Referee recordings will be the priority base for all decisions.
• Boat Trackability is obligatory, pending disqualification. Tracking system’s boundaries are ruling. Technical failures must be reported to Committee a.s.a.p.
• The Fishing grounds map is a document handed to competing anglers as just an indication of the area. When defining the said area, the boundaries are established based on the criteria required by the tracking system. The ruling factor is the Tracking System.
• No more than 6 people, including skipper and/or captain, on boats smaller than 36 feet or 11m, no more than 5 on boats smaller than 25 feet or 7.5m. Larger boats may have extra crew on board, but with no more than 4 anglers to compete.
• No fishing boat may approach closer than 100 meters to any other fishing boat, which is obviously playing a fish and is flying a large red flag. Flying the Red Fight Flag is compulsory. Fighting boat may request neighbouring boat(s) to further increase such distance.
• Anchoring is strictly forbidden, except for security reasons. In case of emergency, fishing whilst anchored is not allowed. It is every boat’s responsibility to otherwise maintain its position during the fishing action.
• As the possibility of the fish pulling the boat outside the allowed boundaries do exist, temporary permission might be given, provided both the referee committee as well as the other competitors are duly informed. Such situation shall be continuously monitored.
• Boats (except the inspecting/supervising ones) are not allowed to come closer than 50m, 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.
• Paperwork such as 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. Marina entrance and accommodation formalities are to be done directly with the Marina administration. Nevertheless, Final and Official Registration will be effective only upon presentation of Marina Entry Registration documents.
• Care should be taken during exit and entry from and to the marina through the harbor channel. A transiting speed of max 6 and preferably 4 kts is mandatory and can be penalized if not observed.
• During the competition, health and safety at sea holds first priority. In case of any emergency, every boat bears the natural responsibility of help within its capabilities.
• Tournament duration and it rules is intended as starting from the moment the competing boats enter the marina, to the moment they leave it after the competition; and any controversial behavior and situation is a cause for points cut or even disqualification.
• Fishing the tournament area the day before the competition is not allowed.

• In case of Trolling no more than 7 (seven) lines at the same time in the water during fishing will be allowed. Hook-less so-called “teasers” are not accounted for in that respect.
• In case of chumming, depending on organization’s decision, only 3 (three) rigged and baited rods are allowed to be in the water at the same time, but can be reduced to 2 (two) by the committee. No other tackle shall be kept “armed” neither on the gunwales nor in the rocket launchers. Nevertheless, it is permitted to simultaneously fish by jigging or popping, though with one single “other” rod only.
• In case of strictly Jigging and Popping, 2 jigging + 2 popping for a total of 4 rods (max) are allowed. No “baited” heavier tackle is contemporarily allowed in the water during such fishing style.
• All the fish from “Tuna” family must be “BLED OUT” and kept in good icy condition – otherwise they will be neither weighed nor will points be awarded for them!
• Gunwale or any rod-holder fighting (“Wicked Tuna” style) is strictly forbidden and will be a cause for catch disqualification.
• During all phases of the fight, from hook-up to landing, the gear shall not change hands. Team members and mates can only assist for leadering, netting, gaffing and/or harpooning.
• All catches shall be communicated to the judges on the dot. Once the catch is landed species and length must be reported immediately. If the total daily catch number exceeds or is in default of the communicated number, the exceeding and/or default numbers will not be taken into account. Species and length data must also be in conformity.
• Spending the night on the ship outside the specified harbor before and after the first AND/OR second fishing day is not allowed.
• Every angler is obliged to know the types and species of caught fishes. Presenting an unknown fish for weighing, can be subject to point penalty, besides not being counted, if proven different than claimed and/or below minimum weight.
• 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 a 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 Bluefin, Swordfish and Med. Spearfish, and possibly other Gamefish estimated much smaller than allowed size, “alive and unharmed”, by all means!!!

A maximum catch limit of 2 (two) fish per boat per day will be allowed. Anglers may aim at larger fish and decide to release a fish if judged too small for keeping in that respect, however, they must declare that they do not expect points for that release. Fish released in compliance with the rules may still be awarded points. The total number of fish that can be awarded points per boat per tournament day is 4 (four).

Teams that have filled their daily quota must return to the marina and deliver their fish to the weighting station, they may not continue fishing on the day.

Such a practice is applicable for all considered species, and a well-documented released catch (crew or certified observer/third party testimony must be supported with video, all unequivocally with date and time recorded) will be awarded extra value based on the referee committee’s evaluation and decision. The use of the Official Tape Measure is mandatory in the relative recordings. As for the weight evaluation of the released fish, being very difficult to measure girth whilst in the water, the average girth of landed fish of that day will be taken as the determining factor for the calculation. Released fish will be evaluated as such. The use of the Release Ruler is mandatory in the video recordings. Video recordings shall also be consistent as far as Reporting and Recording times are considered. Recordings shall be submitted to the judges no later than ½ hour before last weighing time. Evaluation is solely at organizer’s and judges’ discretion.

• First, Second and Third Prizes will go to the overall weight classifications, and to include all species, except the one specimen that will go for the largest catch category.
• The “largest” single fish of any species to be presented for the “largest catch” category will be accounted only once in one prize and point category only. That fish will not be accounted for in the overall category but will be accounted for in the Tuna Master of the Year..
• If any, it is at the committee’s discretion and responsibility to decide for any other special awards.
• Documented (date, hour, etc.) 360° Video Recording of Catch, from beginning through end of action, and to include angler, tackle and fish, is mandatory. Once the catch is landed, notification including time and length is obligatory. Catches unsupported by such videos will not qualify for prizes.
• All teams are obliged to be present and participate at both the post-registration briefing and the prize ceremony, at maximum number. Participating Boats must have the Captain/Skipper and at least one angler present at the Captain’s Brief/Skipper’s Meeting. The whole team of the winning boats must be present at the Awards Ceremony. Lack of participation without notice is open to point penalty or prize cancellation.
• Winning Team members as well as other anglers are kindly requested to attend the prize ceremony wearing the Official Tournament uniform (fleece, etc.).
• All fish caught during navigation to the marina or training prior the opening of the Tournament will need to be reported to the Organizing Committee but will not be honored as “tournament catch”.
• Any infringement of one or more of the above Rules can result in disqualification: If fishermen from one boat break these rules, they can all be disqualified from the competition by the judges, without any possibility of reclamation, which is obligatorily accepted as a rule by all skippers and/or anglers when they sign the final registration!! A Disqualified boat can also be strictly requested to abandon the tournament mooring/docking area.
• Repeated infringement of any of the rules for two and more consecutive times, days or years can result in further undetermined disqualification and the vessel, its captain with crew, and the anglers, can be both banned from participation in the next tournaments.
• Disqualification Clarification: Such a case is within the Committee’s initiative and is usually applied if there is a catch; though in special cases (i.e. misbehavior) it can also be applied independently of a catch.
• The fish caught will not be sold and will be at competition organizer’s disposal for consumption only.
• The points accumulated during the Tuna Masters Teos Tournament will be accounted for as a first step in the “Tuna Master of the Year” Award.

• All eventual claims and objections are to be obligatorily accompanied with visual proof or additional witnesses.
• All claims shall be submitted, verbally and in written form, within and not later than half hour from the possible event. Eventual claims made at sea shall be reported immediately in verbal mode and submitted in written form upon arrival.
• Claims regarding a weighing issue shall be made under the same conditions, both at catch submission as well as during the weighing. Written claims shall be made on readily available forms to be requested from the organization members, in a short and concise style.
• Claims made outside these conditions shall not be neither accepted nor taken into consideration

• 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 reserves itself the right to modify, following announcement, the rules and regulations at any time; all participants are responsible for following-up such changes and updates.
• The 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.
• In case of seriously unsuitable and risky weather conditions, the organization committee reserves itself the right, without objection, to impede the outing of boats they judge inapt and liable to create a danger risk due to their sizes, type, gear, and/or construction. No refunds of any sort will be considered. Participants with small and/or limited capability boats accept such clause with full responsibility and right from the beginning.