OCEAN CITY — The 2020 White Marlin Open, now just a little more than a week away, will look different for spectators this year with no general public viewing of the live daily weigh-ins at host Harbour Island.
Last week, White Marlin Open (WMO) officials told the Mayor and Council the “satellite” viewing spot downtown at 3rd Street would be the primary venue with large viewing screens for the daily weigh-ins and family-friendly concessions and vendors.
The intent was to alleviate some of the pressure on the traditional Harbour Island host marina at 14th Street, which is typically crammed with thousands of sportfishing enthusiasts for the nightly weigh-ins. The original plan was to limit the crowd sizes at Harbour Island with a daily wristband program. Last week, WMO officials told the Mayor and Council the goal was to reduce the crowd size at 14th Street to just 25% of what it normally is during marlin week.
This week, however, WMO officials announced there would no general public viewing at 14th Street and the public would have no access to Harbour Island. The daily weigh-ins will still take place at 14th Street, but the only individuals allowed to be around the scale will be WMO staffers, technicians producing the live-stream of the event and a small number of media representatives. WMO officials announced the changes in a statement released on Wednesday.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to move all public weigh-in viewing to our new 3rd Street ballpark location,” the statement reads. “The large amount of available space at the park will allow for proper social distancing and a more enjoyable experience for our spectators. Unfortunately, the general public will not be permitted access to Harbour Island during the weigh-ins this year.”
Of course, Harbour Island residents and their guests, along with renters in the community during tournament week, will be able to watch the weigh-ins from their balconies, but will not be allowed to access the common areas around the scale. An email blast to Harbour Island owners this week confirmed the general public will not be allowed in the community as spectators from Monday to Friday during WMO week and no one is permitted to be at the scale except WMO staff.
In their statement on Wednesday, WMO officials said they exhausted all means to have some semblance of the traditional tournament at Harbour Island but the obstacles became too big to overcome with the event nearing Aug. 3-7.
“Although we worked with state and local officials for months to create a responsible COVID business plan, this uphill battle has become insurmountable,” the statement reads. “We are focusing all of our energies and resources on continuing to provide our participants with a world class fishing event with world record payouts. While the format for our spectators will look different this year, we can assure our participants that they will continue to experience the first-class event that they have become accustomed to.”
WMO officials acknowledged the decision was a difficult one, but they were left with little choice because of the ongoing COVID restrictions on crowd gathering sizes.
“Like all business owners, we have worked tirelessly to comply with all of the constantly changing regulations, protocols and recommendations related to COVID preparedness,” the statement reads. “We know there will be both support and criticism of this decision, and unfortunately we are in a no-win situation and cannot please everyone.”
