- A fishing crew landed what they thought was the winning marlin at a competition on Saturday.
- The 619-pound marlin was disqualified after judges identified shark bite marks on the fish.
A fishing team lost out on $3.5 million in prize money on Saturday night after the 619-pound marlin they caught was disqualified, the Washington Post reported.
At the 65th annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, North Carolina, the crew onboard the fishing boat "The Sensation" were ready to collect a prize of $3.5 million.
They were expecting to receive $2.77 million for winning the competition and $739,500 for getting the first catch of the season that was over 500 pounds, per the Washington Post.
However, moments after the marlin was hung up to be weighed, the judges noticed what appeared to be bite marks on the fish's body, the report said.
The tournament's presenter Tommy Bennett can be seen addressing the crew and the crowd in a live stream of the event, saying "Okay, guys. Let's talk about the rules here for a second."
Bennett goes on to say: "It would appear that this fish has been bitten by a shark." The excitable crowd's cheers switch to a concerned murmuring, as officials can be seen examining the fish, per the live stream.
The crew had to wait overnight before the tournament officially announced "The Sensation's" disqualification early on Sunday morning.
The Angling Regulations section of the International Game Fish Association rule book states that catches will be disqualified if they have "mutilation to the fish, prior to landing or boating the catch, caused by sharks, other fish, mammals, or propellers that remove or penetrate the flesh."
According to an avid game fisher who spoke to the Washington Post, this rule is to account for the fact that a fish that's been injured will be easier to catch.
Other disqualifying rules include that a fish cannot be caught on more than one line, and the catch cannot violate laws governing the waters where it was caught.
The crew on "The Sensation" spent six hours trying to subdue the massive blue marlin and genuinely believed they caught a winner, according to the boat's captain Grey McCoy, via the Post.
McCoy told the Post: "It's the final hour, the final day and we fought with him for six hours," adding the disqualification was "a tough pill to swallow."
The runner-up crew of "Sushi" were the recipients of $2.77 million in prize money for catching a 484.5-pound blue marlin, according to the Big Rock statement.