Kona’s worldwide billfish tourney canceled for 2026, however organizers hope it will likely be again : Big Island Now

In the Sixties, whereas fishing within the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, deckhand Rick Gaffney and different anglers aboard the competing boats would search and search and search the huge Pacific Ocean “looking for signs of fish, bait fish and seabirds.”

It could possibly be hours of boredom as they cruised up and down the Kona Coast with none motion.

“And then, all of a sudden, the reel can go off and everybody’s on their feet, their hearts pumping,” Gaffney stated. “The sound of a fishing reel will wake up any fisherman out of probably dead sleep.”

The aim was to hook a billfish species — Pacific blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin or shortbill spearfish. There additionally was a prize for the biggest yellowfin tuna (ahi).

The Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament began in 1959, luring anglers from world wide to fish off the Kona Coast from Hawai‘i Island’s northernmost level, Upolu, to its southernmost, Kalae Point, over the course of 5 8-hour days every summer season.

But this yr, the event — one of many oldest and most prestigious sportfishing occasions on the planet, wherein the anglers competed for coveted titles and prizes whereas selling marine conservation and sustainable fishing practices  — has been canceled.

Tournament Director Bobbie Fithian defined why: “Ongoing shifts in international travel patterns, rising operational and transportation costs, and continued uncertainty in the world have made it difficult to ensure the strong international field that has long defined the tournament’s legacy.”

During the planning course of for the event this yr, Fithian stated it grew to become clear that the present international and financial circumstances introduced vital challenges in relaunching the event that for many years had lured groups to compete from many faraway locations, together with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Palau and the U.S. mainland.

It’s now been two years since this once-illustrious occasion has been in Kona. Since then, the price of every part related to the event had gone up, together with airline fares, resort rooms, constitution boat charges and diesel gas.

But Fithian, who took over as event director when her husband Peter handed away in 2025, and her associates nonetheless hopes to deliver the event again.

“It’s important to me because it was so much a part of his (Peter’s) life,” she stated.

Gaffney described this yr’s cancellation of the event as a bump within the street, however acknowledged: “It’s quite possible we could lose it forever.”

The event obtained its “first nick in the armor” when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, forcing massive occasions to be canceled to keep away from an outbreak of the virus. The Ironman World Championship and the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, two different massive worldwide occasions held on the Big Island, had been additionally canceled that yr.

“It’s never fully recovered from that downtime,” Gaffney stated.

Now with the present struggle in Iran, gas prices are driving the costs for every part up.

According to the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization’s second quarter forecast for 2026, the U.S. and Israeli struggle towards Iran has led to the most important disruption in international oil flows in half a century and skyrocketing oil costs.

The report states that the common worth for a gallon of jet gas reached $4.90 in early April, up from $2.50 simply earlier than the battle.

“This near-doubling has pushed fuel’s share of operating expenses to nearly 45% for some airlines in a matter of weeks,” the report states.

Additionally, gasoline stood at $5.66 per gallon statewide as of final week, with diesel that runs most boats costing about $7 per gallon.

Gaffney stated the price of gas varies considerably based mostly on the scale of the boat and its engines, noting a smaller boat with a 350-gallon tank may price $2,000 to replenish.

Because of the uncertainty with the struggle, with no one realizing how for much longer it’ll proceed and when gasoline costs will cease climbing, Gaffney stated Fithian wasn’t capable of inform potential individuals what the associated fee to constitution a ship can be for this yr’s event.

Gaffney stated the event cannot return to the Big Island till the gas difficulty has stabilized.

In current years, the event additionally has struggled with attracting sufficient volunteers. Gaffney attributes this to life getting busier typically, and an absence of volunteerism general.

Participation amongst fishermen additionally has dwindled. Fithian stated youthful anglers are extra all in favour of fishing for money prizes over trophies.

But Gaffney thinks curiosity within the event remains to be sturdy, with recollections of the occasion nonetheless echoing all through Kona, together with a 1,000-pound taxidermy marlin caught throughout one of many previous tournaments that after hung on the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel and now could be on show on the Royal Kona Resort.

“I do know that some of the anglers who would have fished the HIBT this year are still coming, because they can’t live without fishing in Kona for a week,” Gaffney stated. “It’s part of their DNA.”

After school and a stint within the Navy, Gaffney returned to Hawaiʻi and ran a constitution boat on Maui. He would deliver it over to the Big Island each summer season and function a captain within the constitution pool of the event.

In its glory days, the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament performed a giant function in placing Kona on the map, Gaffney stated.

The occasion introduced out numerous well-known individuals to Kona’s blue waters to fish, together with American actors William Conrad, Lee Marvin and Richard Boone, comedians Jonathan Winters and Arte Johnson, and Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune.

One of Hawai‘i’s most iconic watermen, Duke Kahanamoku, additionally fished the event in 1961.

Gaffney went on to turn into a sport fishing journalist, masking the event for years for native, nationwide and worldwide publications. And in recent times, he judged the event.

The Billfish Tournament has all the time introduced numerous worldwide publicity as a result of the event has been good at offering details about the groups and the anglers, no matter the place they arrive from, to their hometown and residential nation publications.

With no different fishing event in Kona is doing that, dropping the Billfish Tournament means dropping that degree of publicity. It additionally means dropping the event’s help for conservation and the science that’s performed in regards to the billfish species in the course of the occasion.

Gaffney stated anglers and groups pay considerably for satellite tv for pc tags, that are placed on the fish they catch and launch in the course of the event. The information collected from these tags have supplied suggestions in regards to the journey of the species.

Albert Arthur William Threadingham III, from Australia, who has served as chief choose for the event since round 1990, first fished the event in 1977, representing Fiji.

In these early days, he stated there have been about 80 groups. But that quantity has dwindled.

“We’ve run it with only 13 teams at once, but we’d like to have 30 or 40 teams,” Threadingham stated.

“The tournament was based on … the opportunity to catch a big fish.”

By the time Threadingham fished in Hawai‘i, he stated everybody knew in regards to the 1,805-pound marlin that was caught in Honolulu in 1970.

“Everyone knew there was much bigger fish in the ocean than that,” Threadingham stated.

“It was Peter’s intention to get as many teams from around the world to enjoy the pristine conditions in Kona because it’s like fishing in the bathtub,” Threadingham stated. “That’s very flat water, and everyone enjoys it.”

The event, Threadingham stated, taught fishermen totally different methods of trawling with lures, trawling with reside baits, catching reside baits and rigging them to maintain them alive.  

“All those sorts of techniques we learned in Kona are still practiced around the world,” Threadingham stated.

“Every tournament that ever wanted to be something was based on the ideals of the HIBT,” Threadingham stated. “Whether it was taken back to Japan, whether it’s taken to the homeland mainland of America, all of the greatest tournaments in the world have been based on the way in which the tournament was run in the early days in Kona.”

Threadingham stated in these early yr anglers had been welcomed to Kona and stayed on the historic Kona Inn the place Peter Fithian was the overall supervisor. 

The event included a parade, with the group lining the streets to see the anglers from world wide.

The fishermen left from Kailua Pier. If they caught a fish, they introduced it again to be weighed and obtained an image with Miss Billfish.

Hawai‘i County Council Member Rebecca Villegas was the 1990 Miss Billfish. Her brother received the event within the early 2000s.

“It’s definitely changed in size and scope compared to what it once was,” Villegas stated, including the event introduced numerous enthusiasm to the Kona group.

As Miss Billfish, Villegas stated she spent the week answering telephones and taking photos with the fish caught by the anglers.

Threadingham has been brainstorming methods to maintain the event alive in Kona, together with the creation of a world committee of anglers.

Bobbie Fithian stated it’s too quickly to speak about that, however she is ceaselessly hopeful to deliver the event again to Kona.