What penalties do tournament directors face if they dont follow the rules?
Currently, failure to adhere to the restrictions of the release boat permit may result in a minimum of a 1-year suspension of the Permittee and/or Tournament Chapter from receiving another such permit from MDNR and/or fees and additional penalties. In practice, poorly run tournaments are not well-attended by anglers because all anglers who want to keep the fish alive, want to be part of tournaments that support keeping the fish alive. Our data indicate that tournaments in Maryland have about 90 95% survival of their fish.
