MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — The Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament is full of excitement, but it isn't all fun and games.
Researchers from N.C. state are hard at work studying the fish that come in.
For the anglers, the dead fish might be worth prize money, or they might be their dinner. However, for the researchers and scientists stationed at Big Rock, they represent a snapshot of life in the ocean.
Paul Rudershausen has been attending Big Rock for the past 18 years, but he doesn't compete in the tournament. Instead, he and his team are interested in what they can learn about the lives of the fish the anglers bring in from the sea.
Their research focuses on how the diets of these species change over time. Over the years, they've found that the diets have been relatively stable. Big Rock provides the perfect opportunity for these observations because it occurs the same week every year.
“The anglers that enter the tournament are fishing, generally speaking, in the same region of the ocean year after year after year,” Rudershausen said. “So, we can isolate and control for these other effects.”
The contents in the stomachs of these fish can tell Rudershausen and his team a lot about their deep sea habitat. This year has been particularly successful.
“Rarely do we see even in a dolphin fish, which is known as the swimming trash can, rarely do you see this kind of diversity in the diet in one particular day of the tournament,” Rudershausen said. “So, this is a banner day as far as looking at how rich the diet is.”
The researchers usually get about 90 fish for their study. However, with a record number of boats competing, the researchers had almost passed that number half way through the tournament. Rudershausen and his team are looking forward to what this year's data will tell them.
