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Close to the Surface Web Site
CLOSE TO THE SURFACE Information
Book:
" Close to the Surface. A pictorial history
of 50 years of big game fishing in the Azores." Artwork,
lithography, printing and binding by Lannoo- printers, 240 pages, 345 photographs and illustrations The Author Greet Wouters, born and raised in Belgium, studied contemporary history and audio-visual communication sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven. In the Islamic Republic of the Comoro Islands (Indian Ocean) she worked for the Ministry of Education and was afterwards employed as an information and documentation officer for the United Nations respectively in Senegal and Barbados. In 1990 she and her husband captain Joseph Franck went to work and live on the island of Faial in the Azores. Although she is -strangely enough - not an avid angler, she has caught a fair share of big game fish. Her academic background and the close contact with the sportfishing world for more than 17 years has placed her in a privileged poistion to write about Azores' big game fishing.
In 1998 the author started gathering information on the history of the fisheries in the Azores . For those unfamiliar with these 9 islands, often called "the Flemish islands", they are situated in the Middle of the North Atlantic. The first chapter of the book places the Azores in its geographical and historical contest and gives the reader" the framework " in which big game angling developed after the Second World War. Greet
Wouters collected photographs and slides , flew around and talked
to people who were here in the very early days. She spent weeks
in the library of the oceanographic department of the University
of the Azores assembling data about the species present in the North
Atlantic waters and gathered all possible articles ever written
about the Azores’ sportfisheries . During 6 months the professional
photographer Jan Vertommen was contracted . His mission was to produce
a maximum amount of visual material on the various aspects of the
sportfishing scene The book was baptized “Close to the Surface. A pictorial history of 50 years of big game fishing in the Azores.” and it was delivered by the printers LANNOO (Belgium) at the end of July 2000. For the cover, the world famous artist & trustee of the International Game Fishing Association Guy Harvey made a beautiful painting of the mountain Pico with a belligerent blue in front of it chasing mackerel. Pictures of memorable catches since the early fifties until the summer of 1999 take you around 50 years of sportfishing in the islands with a focus on the islands of São Miguel and Faial. "Close to the Surface" is an extensively documented walkabout through several decades of big game angling in the Azores . The bulk of the book is a 50 year chronological tour with loads of incidental stops. It is a stroll through traces , memories and souvenirs of sportfishing. Surprises , such as T-shirts in the riggers , abound in this historical overview. After skating over 5 decades of development in the sector of sportfisheries a chapter is dedicated to the species of tuna anglers encounter , of course with the giant bulletin tuna taking the lead. The next chapter deals with the billfish anglers seek . From the elusive swordfish, past the belligerent blue and white marlin the reader lands up in the drawers with a multitude of lures and release flags. The role and importance of the well established tag and release ritual is discussed in this chapter. Then the book meanders to a sea creature that does not seem to belong there : the author spotlights the loggerhead turtle and its remarkable affair with the game fishing fleet. The turtle's travels and behaviour have been carefully chosen to illustrate a theme that preoccupies both anglers and politicians : the abolition of political boundaries for the establishment of effective fishing policies. A picture gallery with not only all the standing world records made in the archipelago of the Azores and their IGFA certificates but also all the granders officially listed so far proves once more the outstanding quality of the sportfishing in these relatively isolated waters. But the book , in its final chapter , is a polemic as well as a work of history. The fisheries crisis at sea and the problematic decreasing stocks of apex predators in the Atlantic are some of the topics being carefully scrutinized. " Close to the Surface" will close with some very alarming statistics and some pertinent questions.
Encouraging comments came from David Ritchie, the editor of Marlin Magazine "Congratulations on a very successful publication." Jim Chambers , journalist for The Edge . Big Game Fishing Journal , reacted upon receipt of the book : " It is beautiful !!!!! Congratulations ! What a great work. Am just starting to go thru it. Superb cover and it just gets better after that. WOW. Jim " Guy Harvey , IGFA trustee, artist and marine biologist , kindly made a superb drawing of mount Pico and a belligerent blue marlin . The author used it for the cover of the book. The artist , who is himself working on a book covering his extensive travels & fishing experiences , wrote : " A wonderful book. I have read most of it, just finishing it up right now - congratulations - it's a masterpiece . The cover looks good, thank you for doing so much with it." Svenne Anderson , journalist of the Swedish based Sportfiske magazine was absolutely amazed at the quality of the document. Jan van Gent , ex collaborator of Marlin magazine put the stamp “ a classic” on it. " Apart from minor points that we need to discuss in the near future , the book already deserves a place next to Peter Goadby's timeless big game books." Michael
Leech , IGFA president, congratulated the author for “the outstanding
job she did creating “Close to the surface.” " I
took it home last night to glance through it , and ended up spending
two hours enjoying the book and I am not even halfway through. The
book really covers the beauty ; excitement and history of sportfishing Steve Coggin of Copalures : " The best fishing book I have seen." Andy
Hahn in Sportfishing (Febrauray issue 2001) starts his review of
the book with "Required reading. Author Greet Wouters spent
two years compiling anecdotes, facts and photos of the big game
community of the Azores.Her profusely illustrated And
last but not least Dr. Jose M.Acostamadiedo , who apart from being
an avid angler , is the driving force behind Catch Cancer... Before
It's Too Late , an organisation based in Winston-Salem, NC, that
does crucial work in the area of oncology and could be beneficial
to all those in the sportfishing world at length exposed to the
damaging effects of sunrays and might be confronted with malignant
melanoma. Dr.Acostamadiedo , who is himself preparing a book about
billfishing in
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