By Capt. Dave Lear
June 7, 2019; Biloxi, Mississippi:
For the casual fan watching the weigh-ins this weekend at the 2019 MGCBC, the tournament is all about big boats, big fish and winning big money. And those are certainly realistic aspects of the sport. But dig a little deeper and it’s easy to see how many involved give back, to the marine resources, the sport-fishing industry and to the communities where the events are hosted. Here are two prime examples that showcase the charitable spirit in Biloxi:
For more than two decades, Release Marine, a long-time tournament sponsor and manufacturer of premium fighting chairs, rocket launchers and other big-game accessories, has donated product and money to help support crucial research of pelagic fisheries. Owner Sam Peters, his wife Melissa, and the company started out by donating a Release fighting chair that was raffled off for a donation to the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. Dr. Jim Franks, a local researcher and member of the MGCBC tournament committee, says Release Marine has been a staunch supporter of his group’s research projects.
“We are deeply grateful for the support and friendship of Sam and Melissa over these years,” Franks explains. “Their generous donations have allowed us to conduct a number of studies and supported students and pilot projects to collect data to improve the management of these great pelagic fish in the Gulf. We wouldn’t have been able to do our dock sampling on billfish, tuna, wahoo and dolphin and the subsequent lab analysis without their help.”
“When my dad, the late Johnny Peters, founded this company in 1974 he named it Release Marine because he believed in protecting the resource. He was way ahead of the bell curve with that attitude,” Sam Peters recalls. “So we’re huge believers in giving back. It’s one of the most important things we do, to be good stewards by supporting conservation, research and the industry.
“It’s very gratifying to watch the students dissect and examine the weighed fish. They’re very passionate about making a difference and we’re proud to help support those efforts,” he adds.
Tim and Lisa Wold are long-time volunteers for the tournament, working behind the scenes to help pull off an event the magnitude of the Classic. But they give back in other ways as well, like their on-going efforts to help Floridians impacted by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm, last fall. Winds and storm surge nearly wiped Mexico Beach, Florida, off the map and caused a path of massive destruction for miles along the Panhandle and into southwest Georgia.
“We put out the word for donations and the response was unbelievable,” Wold says.
Seven days after the storm Tim headed east at 3 am, pulling a 20-foot trailer loaned by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Big Game Fishing Club. It was loaded with relief supplies and his truck had Disaster Relief decals. He had to navigate past downed utility poles and lines and get clearance from the National Guard to finally make it to Mexico Beach.
At a Baptist church, Wold and other volunteers set up fryers and cooked two huge pots of jambalaya and fried 100 pounds of catfish filets for those impacted as well as relief workers. They unloaded donated clothes, diapers, cleaning gear, food, water and other supplies. Unable to find a place to stay, he drove all the way back to Mississippi, arriving home at 3 am.
Tim and his wife Lisa have since made three more trips to help the Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe area. At Thanksgiving, they delivered turkeys and hams, during the Christmas season they brought smoked pork butts and toys for the kids. The last trip before Easter was to deliver hams and Easter candy. The local Mississippi communities have generously donated to these efforts. The MGCBC and the fishing club have donated money to buy food and supplies for the Wolds to deliver.
“It was a very rewarding experience,” Lisa explains. “It could have easily been us so we were happy to help out.”
Giving back. It’s part of the DNA of the Gulf Coast big-game community.
