2014 Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament is Fast Approaching

FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla.– January 22, 2014 –

It’s that time of year again – time to grab your fishing rods and reels, load up the boat with your gear and hit the high seas for the 2014 Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament.

This annual tournament, in partnership with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, directly supports the ongoing efforts at NSU’s Oceanographic Center, providing scholarships for deserving doctoral students as they pursue their dreams.

“NSU’s Oceanographic Center is on the cutting edge, not only for the research being performed there, but also for the educational opportunities we provide graduate and undergraduate students,” said Dr. George Hanbury, President of NSU. “This tournament helps provide financial assistance and scholarships to students so they can have the opportunity to learn from and work alongside the best scientists and professors in environmental sciences and marine biology.”

The 2014 tournament is divided into two days:

• The Captain’s Party: 6-10 p.m. Thursday, February 27^th at the Oceanographic Center, 8000 N. Ocean Dr., Dania Beach (inside John U. Lloyd State Park.) The cocktail reception will run from 6-10 p.m. There will be tours of the Oceanographic Center from 6-8 p.m. and the captain’s meeting will be held at 7 p.m.
• Tournament Day: Saturday, March 1^st from either Port Everglades or the Hillsboro Inlet:
  • 6-7 a.m. check-out; 7 a.m. “lines in,” 3 p.m. “lines out;”
  • Weigh-in runs from 2-5 p.m. Bahia Mar Marina 801 Seabreeze Blvd, Fort Lauderdale;
  • Cocktail Reception runs from 4:30-6 p.m.; Awards Dinner from 6-9 p.m. at the Bahia Mar Hotel, Fort Lauderdale.

The entry fees for the 2014 tournament are:

• $1,000 general entry;
• $500 for current NSU students, NSU faculty and staff or Alumni;
• Additional Captain’s Party and Post-Tournament Party tickets are $50 each.

Anyone interested in participating in or sponsoring the 2014 Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament is urged to contact tournament officials via email (fishingtournament@nova.edu) or by calling 954-262-2105.

TV MEDIA OPPORTUNITY:

While all media are encouraged to cover events on both days, NSU is extending a special invitation to all South Florida TV media to set up live remotes at the Captain’s Party being held at NSU’s Oceanographic Center. The Oceanographic Center’s location lends itself to great visuals as it at the northern end of John U. Lloyd State Park, near the entrance of Port Everglades. Media can set up early in order to do live “hits” during the 4-6 p.m. time slots. Tournament officials and participants as well as students and officials from NSU’s Oceanographic Center will be made available for interviews.

While there are numerous fishing tournaments each year, what makes this one stand apart from the crowd is that it provides direct support for NSU’s Oceanographic Center, which is dedicated to the study and protection of the world’s oceans and the marine life they contain. That’s why the Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament provides trophies rather than monetary prizes; all event proceeds go towards funding scholarships for students at NSU’s Oceanographic Center for studies on fisheries, coral reefs, and the marine ecosystems at local, national, and international levels.

“We’re very excited to partner with NSU for this event,” said Kristina Herbert, President of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. “Every year we have a great time, and the tournament helps support a great cause.”

Being this tournament supports an institution of higher learning, of course there’s an educational component built in to the event. Students, along with their professors, will be staffing the weigh-in area to collect samples from the fish caught by the participants. But it’s not like they will be filleting the fish for a good meal; they will be taking various tissue and other samples for further study back at NSU’s Oceanographic Center’s labs.

“This tournament provides a great opportunity for students to gather specimens without having to travel out into the Atlantic Ocean,” said Dr. Richard Dodge, Dean of the Oceanographic Center. “Catching a winning fish is great, but what makes it even better is helping our students in the process.”

Participants and sponsors of last year’s tournament helped generate funds to provide scholarships to three Ph.D. students. Those students are Andrea Bernhard, Anastasios Stathakopoulous and Andia Chaves-Fonegra.

 

###

 

About Nova Southeastern University: Situated on 314 beautiful acres in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic, fully accredited research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at all levels.  NSU is a not-for-profit independent institution with an enrollment of 27,000 students. NSU awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields.  NSU is classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and it is one of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification.  For more information, please visit www.nova.edu. Celebrating 50 years of academic excellence!

About NSU’s Oceanographic Center: The Oceanographic Center provides high-quality graduate education programs (i.e. masters, doctoral, certificate) in a broad range of marine science disciplines. Center researchers carry out innovative, basic and applied marine and research programs in coral reel biology, ecology, and geology; fish biology, ecology, and conservation; shark and billfish ecology; fisheries science; deep sea organismal biology and ecology; invertebrate and vertebrate genomics, genetics, molecular ecology, and evolution; microbiology; biodiversity;  observation and modeling of large scale ocean circulation, coastal dynamics, and ocean atmosphere coupling;  benthic habitat mapping; biodiversity; histology; and calcification. For more information, please visit http://www.nova.edu/ocean

 

Media Contact:

Joe Donzelli | Office of Public Affairs
954-262-2159 (office)
954-661-4571 (cell)
jdonzelli@nova.edu

---

---