Month: February 2017

Niels Erichsen, Managing Partner of Pacific Fins Resort wins prestigious Individual Conservation Award at IGFA’s 33rd International Banquet.

“I want to share the joy of this recognition with all my fellow Guatemalan anglers, my friends within our government, my colleagues and my family.

All of our efforts working on the conservation of our precious billfish have gone into planning and executing a very thorough program coordinated through the Guatemalan Sailfish Commission, which comprises government entities and the private segment.

What we have actually achieved through this program could become the blueprint for regional and international conservation efforts.

The United Nations program for biodiversity has endorsed our plans, for they clearly comply with their 2020 goals for Sustainable Tourism.

Catch and release guarantees sustainability and a tourism industry based on this principle is the perfect case study on how economics and conservation can progress side by side.

I pledge to keep on going and expand our Guatemalan Conservation Initiative to incorporate as many of our neighboring sportfishing destinations as possible.

Once again, on behalf of Guatemala…thank you IGFA for this prestigious award.”

-Niels Erichsen

We mentioned a few weeks ago that Niels Erichsen, Managing Partner at Pacific Fins is the recipient of the Prestigious IGFA Conservation Award for outstanding billfish conservation work! Niels will be honored and presented with his award next week at The IGFA International Banquet Jan 28, 2017 in Ft. Lauderdale.

Our friends at Grunden’s will be doing a documentary highlighting the work of Niels and The Sailfish Commission in Guatemala. This video will include footage of Niels receiving the award in Ft. Lauderdale, interviews with Rob Kramer, president of the IGFA, members of The Sailfish Commission and vice ministers in Guatemala.

Additional footage will include fishing off the coast of Guatemala from Pacific Fins, the preeminent luxury sport fishing lodge in the region. The film will serve as an educational and inspirational piece about how this innovative conservation model can be spread to other countries in Central America to protect fish stocks and boost tourism.

We look forward to sharing the finished product with you in Spring 2017!