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The Boston Big Game Fishing Club & the Monster Shark Tournament: A Factual History
The Boston Big Game Fishing Club was the Massachusetts sport-fishing club best known for running the Monster Shark Tournament, one of the Northeast's most prominent — and most contested — shark-fishing competitions. Below is a neutral, sourced account of the club and tournament: how they began in 1986, the record catches that made headlines, the prizes and rules, the conservation controversy that surrounded them, and the 2014 departure from Martha's Vineyard.
Key facts
- 1986 — the Monster Shark Tournament was started by Steven James, based in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. (Power & Motoryacht)
- ~27 years — James, president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, organized the event until his death in January 2014. (On The Water)
- 1,221 lb — a 2001 mako aboard Dazed and Confused stood as an IGFA all-tackle record. (On The Water)
- $50,000+ — top prizes for the heaviest qualifying shark; the 2019 Newport edition awarded $60,000+ in cash and prizes. (The Fisherman)
- 2005 — a record tiger shark drew national attention and became a focus for opposition led by the Humane Society of the United States. (Fox News)
- 2014 — the event relocated to Newport, Rhode Island and did not return to the Vineyard. (Bloomberg)
What the Boston Big Game Fishing Club was
The Boston Big Game Fishing Club was a Massachusetts sport-fishing club that organized and ran the Monster Shark Tournament, led for its entire Martha's Vineyard era by its president, Steven James.
| Detail | Fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Sport-fishing club | On The Water |
| Best known for | Monster Shark Tournament | Vineyard Gazette |
| Original home | Oak Bluffs, MA | Power & Motoryacht |
| Longtime president | Steven James | On The Water |
| Also served on | NMFS HMS Advisory Panel | Power & Motoryacht |
James was both the public face and the driving organizer of the event. Beyond running the tournament, he sat on the National Marine Fisheries Service's Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel and framed the competition around what he described as conservation-minded rules — a claim that would later sit at the center of public debate over the event.
Format, prizes and rules
The Monster Shark Tournament was a two-day, weigh-in competition in which boats fished for qualifying species and competed for cash prizes tied to the heaviest catch.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible species | Thresher, mako, porbeagle | Power & Motoryacht |
| Top prize (typical) | ~$50,000 | Power & Motoryacht |
| 2019 (Newport) purse | $60,000+ | The Fisherman |
| Underweight penalty | 100 points | Power & Motoryacht |
Organizers said the tournament carried one of the highest minimum-weight requirements of any shark competition and applied a 100-point penalty for undersized fish. Tiger sharks, eligible in the event's earlier years, were later removed from the qualifying list.
Record catches
Two catches define the tournament's record book: a 1,221-pound mako in 2001 and a 548-pound thresher in 2004.
| Catch | Weight | Year / note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortfin mako (Dazed and Confused) | 1,221 lb | 2001 · IGFA all-tackle record | On The Water |
| Thresher shark | 548 lb | 2004 · MA state record | Power & Motoryacht |
Timeline, 1986–2014
From its 1986 founding to its 2014 departure, the tournament's arc runs through its biggest catches and its escalating controversy.
The controversy — and why it left Martha's Vineyard
As a "kill" tournament held on the island where Jaws was filmed, the event drew sustained opposition from conservation groups and residents, and it moved off-island in 2014.
Pressure came from several directions at once: a public petition, complaints that included a filmmaker among the critics, and local concern about the crowds the weigh-ins drew to Oak Bluffs. The symbolism was hard to miss — Martha's Vineyard is where the 1975 film Jaws was shot, a point coverage returned to repeatedly.
Milestone explorer
Methodology & sourcing
This article compiles publicly reported facts about the Boston Big Game Fishing Club and the Monster Shark Tournament from journalism and sport-fishing trade coverage. Every figure is attributed inline to its source. Where accounts differ, the discrepancy is noted rather than resolved silently.
Note on duration: some coverage describes a "20-year run" in Oak Bluffs while other reports credit Steven James with running the event for "27 years" (from its 1986 start to 2013–14). We present this as an approximate range rather than a single figure.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Boston Big Game Fishing Club?
When did the Monster Shark Tournament start?
What was the biggest shark ever caught at the tournament?
Why did the tournament leave Martha's Vineyard?
Was the tournament controversial?
Sources
- On The Water. "2011 Monster Shark Recap." onthewater.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- On The Water. "Steven James, Monster Shark Tournament Organizer, Dies Duck Hunting." onthewater.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Power & Motoryacht. "Shark Attack Tournament." powerandmotoryacht.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Bloomberg. "Shark-Killing Tournament Ends on Martha's Vineyard Where Jaws Was Filmed." bloomberg.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Patch (Martha's Vineyard). "Shark Tournament Organizer Bites Back." patch.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Change.org. "Ban the Martha's Vineyard Shark Tournament" (petition). change.org. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Fox News. "Anglers Compete for Biggest Shark." foxnews.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- The Fisherman. "The North Atlantic Monster Shark Tournament Returns!" thefisherman.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.
- Vineyard Gazette. "Monster Shark Tournament" (collection). vineyardgazette.com. Accessed 2026-09-15.