Three teams, one from Canada, another mixed with participants from England and South Africa, and the host, compete in the eighth edition of the Jardines del Rey Big Game Trolling International Fishing Tournament, which will take place from October 26 to 30, taking advantage of the potential nautical and fishing in the north of the Coco and Guillermo cays.

According to the website of the Marlin Marina, professionals or amateurs, personnel related to the sport fishing movement and lovers of these practices, integrated or not to clubs and federations of the activity, take part in this fight, with the purpose of deepening the knowledge about the marine environment and its species.

The tournament is ecological and is governed by the rules of the International Association of Sport Fishing (IGFA), through the tag and release system, with the taking of three photographs to validate before the jury the fish.

According to its category, the needlefish reports 300 points, the castero 500 and the peto 80, and the catches must be reported to the Navy Command Post, with the corresponding data: time, team number, area where it occurred, type of species with the fishing stick and its weight (allowed up to 60 pounds).

Arley Rodríguez Suárez, commercial deputy director of the Marlin Navy in that demarcation, specified that the fishing area includes up to five miles north-northeast of the northern Ciego de Ávila`s cays, where varieties of species such as pelagic and beak are abundant, which stand out fan and white needle, castero, peto and gold fish.

For the competition, they have specialized crews, with more than 15 years of experience in the area, aboard yachts with dimensions that vary between 33 and 42 feet, equipped with up to four simultaneous beams, with lines of up to 60 pounds, appropriate for the capture of the species included in the event.

The meeting contemplates the realization of collateral activities of animation, sale and promotion, facing the upcoming high tourist season and with the aim of increasing participation in the next competition, scheduled to take place in the same period of the year 2022.

At the gates of the winter period, this competition is resumed, interrupted for seven years, due to the effects caused in the area by Hurricane Irma and, later, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This event diversifies leisure opportunities in the second most important tourist destination for sun and beach in the country, with strict adherence to hygienic-sanitary protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

In accordance with the policies established by the Ministry of Tourism, the organizing institution was previously certified with the condition of Most Hygienic and Safe Tourism, which represents a guarantee for the participants and the confirmation of the northern cays as a safe option for recreation, in the midst of a global health crisis.