FISHING TOURNAMENT TEE SHIRT PRIZE TO GO AHEAD – WITHOUT SCHOOLS ENDORSEMENT
Written by John Grant on July 5, 2022
Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club member, and organiser of the Kubota Billfish Classic, Tom Maxwell , showed his frustration in a Facebook post yesterday that he titled ‘Cancel Culture Gone Mad’ after the Mercury Bay Area School decided against participating in a $2500 scholarship.
The prize money to be spent on University costs, or for the purchase of tools etc for an apprenticeship, will go to the successful student who designs the best Tee Shirt design for the fishing competition which has become the largest fishing event in the Southern Hemisphere.
Mercury Bay Area School Principal, John Wright, told CFM that the proposal for the scholarship should have received more consideration, but the decision was made to avoid students becoming embroiled in controversy.
One of the people who spoke out against the proposal is Whitianga local Thomas Everth. He responded to questions from CFM with personal comments and stressed that these were his own and not the schools. He told CFM, that people think “it’s a macho rite of passage to do this to 400 kg Marlin just because they are fish and call it a ‘sport’ and make lots of money on the suffering of these animals. So as a teacher of a class for sustainability education myself, I would find it difficult to reconcile advising a student to take money from such an endeavour “. He went on to say that he had discussions with several colleagues and found that they too think alike about this.
Tom Maxwell told CFM that the promotion is still going ahead but will now be run directly by the fishing club and said details will be available on their website in the next few days.
Daniel Mccarthy On July 5, 2022 at 11:57 am
That is an opinion but why deprive another person or person’s of any opportunity to achieve
And take part in something that rewards them and builds confidence and builds skills
Unbelievable thell those plonkers to get s ….d
Janine Carson On July 5, 2022 at 12:53 pm
I think like elephant hunting or lion hunting, big game fishing is on its way out and the people who enjoy these activities aren’t happy but they will get over it.
Aaron Styles On July 5, 2022 at 1:54 pm
Have you got your head in the sand? Game fishing & Fishing is more significant than ever, and people are taking more appreciation of where their food comes from. You will see more people going out to catch a feed, spending time with friends and family and having some good old time out, which is excellent for mental health. The only people losing out in this situation are the kids, some of whom I bet would love Fishing living in a coastal town like Whitianga.
It makes me sad, and as a Father would be pretty pissed off if that was my son in that teacher’s class.
Warren Maher On July 5, 2022 at 12:56 pm
Thomas Everth has an extremely narrow view on fishing and is not interested in recognizing the rules for the comp, the fact that fishing is a recognized as an active recreation by Sport NZ and the fact it provides food and protein for a great number of families. To enforce his view over the school kids is not someone I would call an educator.
Donna Santner On July 5, 2022 at 1:06 pm
They only person missing out here is the student that has an opportunity to show case there skill and get some funds toward their future
Teacher in question should teach his kids not to buy food from the supermarket because they stock things that are killed for food
Ben Sullivan On July 5, 2022 at 1:32 pm
Wow these people are teaching the kids of mercury bay. I think they all forgot we are a nation that loves going out on the boat and catching fish. Whitianga is basically a fishing town. These clowns need to head back into the hills where they came from, plenty of foliage for them to chew on up there.
Chris Matthews On July 5, 2022 at 1:52 pm
its never on its way out ever
Bob Dawson On July 5, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Congratulations Tom for sticking to your guns, just too many politically correct clowns trying to indoctrinate our kids with nonsense. most if not all mature fishermen are conserving fish stocks by only taking enough for a feed, we are not being cruel as this guy states. I’m willing to bet he has never had to obtain food for survival or pleasure in his life. He must be a sad charicter
Richard Baker On July 5, 2022 at 3:54 pm
Wow! …just WOW! Fishing and providing food has been a part of communities since the start of time. The successful hunter has always been celebrated. Fish from competitions are not wasted! Fishermen are by far more aware of the resource than ever and virtually no fish go to waste these days. – Yes, times have changed from 30 or so years ago.
Only recently have some people started trying to “humanise” fish, when in reality fish live in the marine environment where it’s kill or be killed, and to survive, fish eat lots of fish every day. Sometimes predatory fish kill, and some times they simply eat their prey live. That’s plain how it is in nature.
…and it would be these teachers that promote that there are no winners and losers, and are churning out kids into the real world with no life skills, ability to deal with adversity or failure….no resilience….and then wonder why youth and all suicide rates are at an all time high??… Sad!
Mitch bodman On July 5, 2022 at 6:34 pm
First thing they should do is sack that sorry arse person, he must be a vegan who has never enjoyed him self in life ,so he has never bought a chicken or meat in his life