The 2019 Kona, Hawaii Great Marlin Race event kicked off during the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) on July 29, 2019, with a total of seven satellite tags placed on blue marlin.

This race was won by a 140-pound blue marlin tag, co-sponsored by the Newport Game Fish Club and Kona Game Fishing Club-Taiyo, that popped up 2,181 nautical miles (nm) from the tag deployment location after traveling an estimated 10,751 nm total! This fish was caught and tagged alongside the Marlin Magic II with Captain Marlin Parker and angler Mark Zmijewski.

Second place in the race went to a 120-pound blue marlin tag, co-sponsored by Rocky Franich and the Saint Helens Game Fishing Club, that popped up 123 nm from the deployment location after traveling an estimated total distance of 4,557 nm. The second-place team consisted of angler Ken Corday and Captain Kevin Nakamaru aboard the Northern Lights II.

In third place, a 110-pound blue marlin tag, co-sponsored by Laguna Niguel Billfish Club and Bob Kurz Sr. Memorial Team and caught aboard Northern Lights II with Captain Kevin Nakamaru, that popped up 78 nm from the deployment location after traveling an estimated total distance of 107 nm.

The IGFA and our scientific partner, Stanford University, would like to thank our tag sponsors, captains, anglers, crews, and participants of the 2019 Kona HIBT IGMR event. The addition of these blue marlin datasets helps advance our understanding of blue marlin behavior and increase our ability to conserve and manage these important billfish for future generations.

For the complete 2019 Kona IGMR results, see the full race report here.