BOSTON, MA July 24, 2001 – Over the weekend, 90 fishing boats participated in The Boston Big Game Fishing Club’s15^th Annual Monster Shark Tournament on Martha’s Vineyard. Over 1500 sharks were caught during the two day tournament, most of which were released or tagged for marine biology research. The 40 sharks that were brought back to the dock yielded 5,004 pounds of shark meat which will be distributed through The Greater Boston Food Bank to meals programs for the hungry throughout eastern Massachusetts. The hearty, high-protein shark meat was processed on-site by marine biologists, then collected by The Greater Boston Food Bank and packed safely in ice before reaching its final destinations.

Captain Chris Peters of Oak Bluffs brought in the tournament’s largest shark – a 1,221 pound Mako shark. "This is an amazing story, because Captain Peters had the tournament’s smallest boat and after hours of hard work and determination, landed the biggest fish in the competition," said Steven James, president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club. "At 5:00 p.m. on Saturday night he arrived back at Oak Bluffs with a damaged boat hull, lots of smashed fishing gear and a possible world record Mako. After donating his shark to The Greater Boston Food Bank, Captain Peters asked that he be given only the jaws as he watched his once in a lifetime trophy fish get reduced to table fair. Chris’s generosity exemplifies the Club’s philosophy and makes us all proud."

According to Mr. James the previous world record was set in 1988 for a 1,115 pound Mako caught near the Black River off Mauritius, which lies on the south-eastern coast of Africa. A crowd of nearly a thousand waited over two hours while heavy equipment was located to lift the enormous shark onto the dock. As the front-end loader slowly raised the fish from the water the crowd erupted at the sight of this incredible predator. The Mako shark was approximately 12 feet in length and significantly larger in girth than a fifty gallon drum. The scene resembled the Old Man and The Sea except in this case it was a young man with a big heart.

"Captain Peters’ record-breaking catch is truly amazing," said Catherine D’Amato, CEO and president of The Greater Boston Food Bank. "Even more impressive is the fact that he donated all the meat from his catch to The Greater Boston Food Bank. The meat from his donation alone amounts to almost 4800 meal servings, which will help us immensely in feeding the hungry. We are extremely grateful to both Captain Peters and all of the Monster Shark Tournament fishermen who donated their catch to us. Thousands of hungry people throughout eastern Massachusetts will benefit from their good will."

ABOUT THE GREATER BOSTON FOOD BANK

The Greater Boston Food Bank is a non-profit clearinghouse for donated food, which is distributed to a network of 750 food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, daycare centers for children at risk, and other charitable feeding programs throughout nine counties in eastern Massachusetts. It is New England's largest hunger relief organization, annually distributing 15 million pounds of food and making it possible to provide for more than 11,500,000 meals. For additional information about the Food Bank visit their web site at www.gbfb.org or call 617-427-5200.