6th Annual West End Snapper Tournament & Festival

On Saturday, June 18th, 2016, the community of West End, Grand Bahama Island hosted the 6th Annual West End Snapper Tournament & Festival.

The event, which commenced at 7:00am with the fishing tournament, attracted some one hundred visitors from throughout the island, along with locals and residents for a grand time of cultural exchange.

Attendees participated in high-spirited competitions and traditional games including watermelon eating contests, fish scaling contests and of course, the highly competitive snapper tournament.  

Taking home the win in both the total poundage and most snappers caught categories was Coffees on the Bay with 470.9lbs and 416.5lbs, respectively and for the largest fish caught it was Old Bahama Bay reeling in a snapper at 13.6lbs.

Elaine Smith, Coordinator for Product at the Ministry of Tourism, spoke to the significance of West End as not only the island’s capital but the fishing capital, noting the valuable role played by this year’s honoree, Mr. Dencil Grant.

She said, “Mr. Grant began fishing at the age of 13 and has played an active role in the fishing and tourism industries of West End,serving as a community fisherman and a boat caption during the early days of the Jack Tar Hotel.”

Present at this year’s event was the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Obie Wilchcombe.

Minister Wilchcombe, in his remarks, recognized visiting press from Milan, Italy, who travelled to the island on the new Alpitour direct charter, a summer initiative spearheaded by the European and Grand Bahamian Tourist offices.  

In light of the festival’s progress and current international reach, he acknowledged the growth that the tourism industry continues to spur within the economy.

Referring to the tourism sector, Minister Wilchcombe added that, “At the moment we are responsible for more than 50,000 jobs directly, and more than four billion dollars of our national economy and that is to ensure that we have good schools, to ensure that we have good hospitals and clinics, to ensure that we have good communities and ensure that our people can continue to grow and become the best that they can be.”

He said that “As we recognize the 40th anniversary of the Ministry of Tourism’s slogan, events such as these are intended to build the economy and to cause the world to always know that it is Better in The Bahamas.”