Koror, Palau, June 6, 2021 – The Palau Sports Fishing Association (PSFA) celebrated our nation’s leaders in the 2021 President’s Day fishing derby on Sunday. The long awaited derby began with an early morning start at Drop Off Bar & Grill. 24 teams launched from the NECO Marine for a day of trolling, aiming to reel in the winning catch.
Coming in 1st place in the Marlin category was Team Rookie (Captained by Marllis Besong) with a 233 lb marlin, followed by Team RAMM (Captained by Rodney Wong) in 2nd place with a 190 lb marlin. 1st place in the Tuna category was Team Bite Me (Captained by KB Sakuma) with a 75.5 lb catch. Coming in 2nd place was Team Mererek (Captained by Allen Takada) with a 46 lb tuna, followed by Edwin Ngirakesau in 3rd place with a 45 lb tuna.
The prizes are as follows:
Marlin Category
1st Place – $1,500.00 – Team Rookie 2nd Place – $1000.00 – Team RAMM
Tuna Category
1st Place – $1,500.00 – Team Bite Me 2nd Place – $1000.00 – Team Mererek 3rd Place – $750.00 – Edwin Ngirakesau
Aside from the usual cash prizes, PSFA board member and event sponsor Siegfried Nakamura added further incentives by making special prizes for the first fish in! If you brought in a qualifying Marlin and it was the first Marlin in for the day you got a bottle of Glenfiddich malt whisky including a case of Asahi and fishing lures. Present during the awarding ceremony was President Surangel Whipps Jr., as well as former President Johnson Toribiong. The board of the Palau Sports Fishing Association would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the sponsors of the derby, Nakamura & Associates, as well as thank you to all the fishermen who participated in the derby.
Keep an eye out for the next event coming soon!
ABOUT the Palau Sports Fishing Association
For over 30 years, PSFA has been the official organization for sport fishing in the Republic of Palau. Each year PSFA organizes the largest sport fishing event on Palau, The Annual Fishing Derby featuring the Etpison Cup, to promote game fishing, the growth in the sector through the Junior Angler program and community engagement through its network of offshore Fish Aggregating Devices. In partnerships with corporations such as Palau Pacific Resort, IP&E, Shimbros, NECO
Yamaha and Bank of Hawaii along with the local community PSFA has been able to realize increasing numbers of participants in sport fishing competition and spectatorship. As the official organization for sport fishing in Palau, PSFA is associated with tradition, integrity and, most importantly,
responsibility as stewards of Palau’s fishery. PSFA is also a member of the International Game Fishing Association.
For media inquiries, please contact
Jennifer K. Gibbons
PSFA Board Secretary/Treasurer
+680 775-7398