In its heyday, sport tuna angling brought teams from all over the world to this small Acadian community. It attracted rich and famous visitors including President Franklin Roosevelt, Kate Smith, Gene Tunney, Amelia Earhart, Ethel Dupont, Ernest Hemingway, Tony Hulman, Jean Béliveau and many others. The community and surrounding areas were bustling with excitement.
Michael Lerner is credited with bringing sports fishermen from around the world to Wedgeport. In 1935, he stayed here for 8 days and landed 21 tuna weighing in at 5,526 pounds.
After meeting Mr. Lerner, Captain Évée LeBlanc, who was an experienced tuna harpooner and had learned his fishing skills from his father, was convinced by Mr. Lerner that the giant bluefin could be caught on rod and reel. His boat towed the dory from which Michael Lerner caught his first tuna and was the first to install a tuna chair in his boat. Lerner also convinced the local captains that big game anglers would come to Wedgeport to catch tuna and that they must rig their lobster boats with fishing chairs.
In 1937, Wedgeport hosted its first International Tuna Cup Match when teams from around the globe converged on Wedgeport to compete for the Sharp Cup which was donated by Alton B. Sharp, a Boston businessman and an experienced fisherman. These fish could weigh-in at 800 (363 kg) pounds or more and the "reelin-in" could take hours. In 1949, 1780 Bluefin Tuna were landed. The Sharp Cup was. These competitions went on until the late 1970's. Since 1998 The Sharp cup has been presented in Halifax for the Nova Scotia Tuna Tournament which is held every year in September.
In the early 1950's Kip Farrinton, Jr. had an idea for an international fishing tournament for college students. Referred
to as the Intercollegiate, the contest was held late August or early September in the waters off Wedgeport. Six
Universities from the United States and six from Canada competed each year, with Mexico and Japan as invited guests
from time to time. Edward Charles Migdalski, Director of Outdoor Recreation at Yale University, managed the intercollegiate
Fish Game Seminar and Fishing Match from its conception in 1956 through to 1976 with the help of Alain Wood-Prince and
Bob Crandall. Trophies associated with this competition are housed at the museum: the Tony Hulman Cup donated by Tony
Hulman, owner of the Indianapolis Speedway, for the team which had the most pounds of fish; the Crandall Trophy donated by
Julian Crandall of Ashaway Lines, for the student catching the most pounds of fish; and The R.J. Schaefer International Cup,
donated by Rudy Schaefer of F & M Brewing for the country with the most total points.
In the 1940's and 1950s all of Nova Scotia's tourism budget was spent on the International Tuna Match. With the enormous number of people coming to the event, many hotels, motels, inns, and restaurants had to be built. This was an exciting time for this area.
Tournament Statistics (PDF)
In 2004 the museum re-introduced the Tuna Tournament to the area with the help of the Yarmouth Shark Scramble. The
tournament was held in Yarmouth for three years. However, in 2007, the the fourth year, the Wedgeport Tuna Tournament
was held in Wedgeport for the first time since 1976. Once again the spectators watched in wide-eyed excitement
as nine large tuna were hoisted off the boats that participated in the tournament. The fundraising event was a huge success.
The 5th annual event was held in late August, 2008.
Copyright©2008 Wedgeport Sport Tuna Fishing Museum and Interpretive Centre
Last Update: 25 September 2008