Fourth annual Sanctuary Classic – Guy Harvey Award winners announced

by The Sportfishing Conservancy on 11 Feb 2016 The Sportfishing Conservancy and NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries today announced the winning photographs and young anglers selected to receive special Guy Harvey Youth Scholarship Awards as part of the Fourth annual Sanctuary Classic. Five young anglers around the country will receive $1,000 scholarship awards from the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, based on photographs that were submitted during this free, summer-long fishing photo contest designed to promote family fun and fishing opportunities in our country's vast network of National Marine Sanctuaries.

A prestigious panel of three judges - IMAX film pioneer Barbara MacGilivray, Hawaiian Fishing television host Ben Wong and world-renowned marine artist and conservationist Guy Harvey - evaluated a wide variety of youth fishing photos submitted from marine sanctuaries and adjacent waters, and selected the following winners:

Asher Encinas
- Asher won the 'Most Unique Looking Fish' Award for his picture of a copper rockfish - also known as a 'chucklehead' - caught at California's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Aiden Austin
- Young Aiden is learning to fish in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where, with the help of the Constanzo family, he caught, photographed and released the diminutive snapper that earned him the 'Smallest Fish' Award.

Damian Becquer
- Damian is already an avid waterman who loves to fish in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. He caught the mangrove snapper in his photo for dinner, while proudly wearing his Guy Harvey shirt. Damian won the 'Guy Harvey Spirit' Award.

Bryce Churchill
- Bryce won the 'Best Conservation Message' Award for his photo of a white papio caught from Kailua Bay in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. He would wake up most mornings to go fishing with his dad and brother, and released this papio back into the ocean because it was too small to keep.

Niko Pappas
- Young Niko won the 'Biggest Fish' Award for his photo of a beautiful red snapper caught while fishing south of Grays Reef (Georgia) National Marine Sanctuary off the East Coast of Florida.

'The goal behind the Sanctuary Classic is an important and lasting one - to encourage people, and families in particular, to get out of doors and enjoy our nation's network of marine sanctuaries,' says Guy Harvey. 'For this reason, we've always been proud to support this unique event and to help honor our next generation of conservation-minded anglers,' Harvey adds.

Throughout its summer-long run, the Sanctuary Classic also awarded weekly prizes of Costa Sunglasses (a $250 value) to winning photographs selected from entries coming in from all around the country. All people had to do to win was submit their fishing photos from any marine sanctuary or adjacent waters to the SanctuaryClassic.org website.

'That's the great thing about the Sanctuary Classic, it's easy, fun, and all about enjoying time on the water with friends and family,' said Tom Raftican of The Sportfishing Conservancy. 'Through this event, we want to raise awareness of the fact that the vast majority of our country's national marine sanctuaries are open to recreational fishing. These areas provide great opportunities for American families to enjoy fishing and share time together out of doors. It's through activities like these that appreciation for our natural resources and a conservation ethic can be passed from one generation to the next,' added Raftican.

Plans are underway for the 2016 Sanctuary Classic, which will mark the Fifth Anniversary for the one-of-a-kind event.