IGFA Representatives
Oceania Region
Alistair McGlashan
Al McGlashan has been lucky enough to turn his passion for fishing into a career as a photographer, underwater cameraman, producer, writer and conservationist. He hosts "Fishn' with Mates" airing on Netflix, Sportsman's Channel and the Nine Network. McGlashan's focus is promoting proper fishing education, maintaining fishing access, and encouraging the next generations to go fishing.
AUSTRALIA
William Sawynok
North Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
William Sawynok manages Suntag Australia-- one of the largest volunteer tagging programs in the world with a database of more than 870,000 fish. In 2011 he established the Crystal Bowl which provides a range of fishing forecasts including expected catch rates, sizes of fish, stock trends, and recruitment using tagging and other datasets. These forecasts are provided for barramundi and threadfin in the Fitzroy River in Queensland and other areas as data becomes available.
Sean Tracey
Associate Professor Sean Tracey's life-long passion for the ocean and angling led him to a career in fisheries biology. Over the last 20 years, he has travelled across Australia and the world fishing for, and working on, a wide range of marine species - from satellite tagging bluefin tuna at extreme northern latitudes off Norway and off southern Tasmania in Australia, to engaging with the booming recreational swordfish fishery off the temperate waters of Australia. His work with the recreational swordfish fishing fleet was an opportunity to track these amazing fish further south than ever before, and to gain the first scientific insights on their migration and behavior in these southern reaches. A passionate advocate for education, knowledge sharing and citizen science, Sean founded the highly successful Tuna Champions program, which encourages recreational fishers to use the best evidence-based fishing and handling practices for the iconic Southern Bluefin Tuna, so no fish is wasted - and to become stewards of the SBT fishery.
Albert A. Threadingham
South Queensland, Australia
Although fishing has always been a prominent part of Albert Threadingham's life, it was in Fiji in 1970 that he was first introduced to what has become one of his greatest passions: big-game fishing. Threadingham's fishing career and vast knowledge of the sport have led him to hold various posts in the fishing tournament industry. Today he works as the chief judge at many prominent tournaments around the globe including the renowned Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT). Threadingham's beloved wife Pauline is a partner in his success. Several tournament trophies have been named after the couple.
Sanchia Judith Glaskin
Southern NSW, Australia (Shellharbour to Eden)
Sanchia Glaskin has worked extensively to promote game fish conservation in Australia for more than 20 years. Before becoming an IGFA Representative in 2012, Glaskin held several influential positions with fisheries management groups including president of the New South Wales Game Fish Association (NSWGFA). Glaskin has recently turned his attention to educating the next generation of anglers that he believes will preserve the future of our sport.
John Burgess
Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia
A lifelong recreational angler, Burgess serves as Board Director and Executive Officer of ANSA - Australian National Sportfishing Association Ltd - one of the oldest and largest organizations representing sport fishing across the continent. Burgess also serves on several committees addressing recreational and commercial fisheries management. He is a vocal advocate for the rights of recreational anglers and believes in balancing effective preservation and management of the marine environment and resources. Burgess is a regular guest speaker at fishing clubs and takes every opportunity to promote IGFA's vision and mission. In 2017 he received the prestigious Mal Ramsay Lifetime Achievement Award for his recreational fishing contributions.
Evan Jones
Queensland, Australia
Evan Jones has been an active game fisherman for over 30 years, fishing in tournaments worldwide including Hawaii and Costa Rica. His interests are marine resources management, artificial reef design, and implementation and management of marine parks. In 2010, he received the IGFA Conservation Award.
Douglas Sanderson
Douglas Sanderson is a director for the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF). A former vice-president of the Game Fishing Association of Australia (GFAA), he is the current director of its Research and Development Foundation Ltd. In various executive positions, Sanderson's main goal has always been the promotion of the sport.
Tim Simpson
Queensland, Australia
Tim Simpson is the former publisher and editor-in-chief of BlueWater Boats & Game Fishing magazine and currently serves as editor at large for a major Australian boating magazine Trade-a-Boat. Before he got into the publishing business, Simpson ran two of Australia's largest fishing tackle stores for 20 years. He co-authored the popular 320-page guidebook to every type of fishing lure "The Book of Lures". Simpson's knowledge of angling rules, techniques and tackle enabled him to serve as chief judge at various tournaments and advisor to national and international angling associations and government agencies. Simpson is a seven-time IGFA world record holder, and for nine years was a board member of The Billfish Foundation.
Laurie Wright
Cairns, Australia
IGFA captain Laurie Wright started his charter business in 1983 with marlin fishing in his blood. Wright has steered his anglers to many world records, including the men's world record for black marlin on eight-pound test line and the women's world record for black marlin on 30-pound test line--both still standing today. Although he has fished all over the world, Wright's promotion of the Cairns marlin fishery is legendary. Dr. Guy Harvey has fished with Wright numerous times and dedicated an entire chapter of his book "Portraits of the Deep" to the Great Barrier Reef and his adventures with Wright. Wright served as President of the Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association from 2001 to 2007 and was instrumental in the planning and establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A key figure in the establishment of the Cairns Game Fishing Hall of Fame in 2006, he himself was inducted in 2008. In 2010, Wright received the IGFA Gil Keech Heavy Tackle Award for his angling prowess. In 2011, he was presented with the Elwood K. Harry Fellow Award for his outstanding contributions to the sport of recreational fishing. In 2016 he received the IGFA Tommy Gifford Award in recognition of his significant contributions to recreational angling as one of the world's top captains.
Christopher Baty
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Christopher Baty started out in the fishing tackle trade nearly 30 years ago, introducing new and exciting gear and techniques to anglers across Australia. He has written for several Australian fishing magazines, co-hosted radio shows, and was a guest on national television fishing shows. Baty has fished throughout Australia and in other famous destinations including Prince Edward Island, Vanuatu, Christmas Island, Fiji, New Zealand and Mongolia.
Jeff Cooper
Broome, Western Australia
Jeffrey Cooper is a passionate and proactive advocate for recreational fishing and the values of the IGFA. His strong qualifications and experience in fisheries and aquaculture have enabled him to lead innovative fisheries enhancement and citizen-science projects to improve recreational fishing in Western Australia. He is a former board member of the Marine Park Reserves Authority, former president of the Broome Fishing Club, and a current board member of Recfishwest-- a nonprofit representing the interests of 740,000 recreational anglers in Western Australia.
Ben Patrick
Fremantle, WA
Ben Patrick is managing director and owner of Halco Tackle Company based in Fremantle, Western Australia. He has fished extensively along the West Australian coastline and around the world, and is an accomplished tournament angler. Patrick is actively involved in various fisheries resource management issues throughout Australia.
Ernest B. Maher
Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
"Mark" Maher has owned and operated numerous game fish boats under the name Mako Sportfishing since the 1980s. In 1981 he joined the Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC), the Southern Hemisphere's largest Sailing Club. Not just a sailing club, the organization is very diverse with over 3,000 members and nine sections including the Game Fishing Section. Maher was FSC Captain competing in the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament in Kona; was Vice Captain of the Game Fishing Section for two years; and became Sections Captain for 12 years. Through FSC he organized fishing clinics teaching game fishing to youth, adults and the handicapped incorporating IGFA rules and ethics.
FIJI
Marc McElrath
Denarau Island, Fiji
Over the last 30 years Marc McElrath has fished the Fiji Islands, Costa Rica, Hawaii, New Zealand and Samoa. He is former President of the Denarau Game and Sports Fishing Club and served as a committee member for the last 12 years. The club has grown to over 100 members who support and promote fishing conservation and responsible angling in accordance with IGFA rules.
Harvie Probert
Suva, Fiji Islands
Harvie Probert's involvement in fishing spans over 60 years: officer of the Royal Suva Yacht Club Game Fishing Association; record-keeping officer for the Fiji International Game Fishing Association since 2002; and board member of the Fiji Amateur Sports Association and National Olympic Committee representing the interests of the recreational angling community. Probert lobbies for fisheries conservation measures such as restrictions on commercial fishing vessels.
John Llanes
Taveuni, Qamea and Laucala, Fiji Islands
John Llanes is a third-generation fisherman who began his professional fishing career in Kona, Hawaii over 40 years ago at a very young age. He has fished commercially and professionally in Hawaii, Midway, Australia and Fiji. He qualified for his 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard Master license in 1983. During his Hawaiian fishing career he won or placed in at least 50 tournaments. He is an all- around fisherman in big game, light tackle, reef, fly and shore genres. In 2003 he moved to Taveuni, Fiji and started his charter operation there.
NEW CALEDONIA
Alain Destours
Didier De Stoppeleire
Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia
Didier De Stoppeleire was appointed IGFA's first Representative for New Caledonia in 1998 when few people in the French territory knew about the organization. He was a founding member and president of the Sports Fishing Center of Douala in Cameroon in 1982. De Stoppeleire is a big proponent of youth education and conservation initiatives and has also worked hard to increase IGFA membership in his home country. He wishes to continue to raise the profile of the IGFA in New Caledonia and promote the organization's mission and vision.