Peter Wann. The Real Story

Last week in the 52 annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament a boat out of Hatteras, NC (Citation) caught an 883lb Blue Marlin. The fish was the biggest one ever caught in the tournaments history. When no one else caught a bigger fish it appeared that Citation would earn around 1.2 million US dollars.

Start the party, right? Not exactly. It turns out that one of the crew members did not have the North Carolina license required for all participants in the tournament. After three days of deliberation the Committee who oversees the tournament decided to disqualify the boat for a rules violation.

Just about every news outlet covering the story has received information that the Captain had told the first mate (Peter Wann of Alexandria, VA) to get the license before the tournament started. The Captain alleges that Peter told him that he got it taken care of, and that the Captain decided to take his word for it.

Wann's name became public record because he was cited for not fishing with a proper license. After a very intense search to find Peter Wann, I finally got a hold of him and he agreed to do an interview claiming his side of the story.

Here is the transcript.

PB: Did the captain ever tell you to get a license?
PW: No, he did not.

PB:Did the owner ever tell you to get a license?
PW:nope.

PB:And you are sure?
PW: yes, %100 sure.

PB: When did you realize that you needed a license?
PW: On the way in after we caught the fish, I asked the Captain if he had a blanket license, and he told me he that they did not. He asked me if I had a license, I told him I thought I did but I would check just to make sure.

PB: What prompted you to realize you might need a license?
PW: After we caught the fish I thought it was a good idea to go through the rule book to make sure we weren't in violation of any rules. I saw that everyone needed a license, but I was under the impression that the boat had a blanket license.

PB:There is a rules meeting did your Captain attend?
PW:It's not required, but most parties send someone to the meeting, no one from our boat went.

PB:You are sure no one from your boat went to the meeting?
PW:No one from my boat went to the meeting.

PB:Have you been in contact from anyone affiliated with Citation?

PW: No comment.

PB:Do you agree with the penalty and fine assessed to you by the state?

PW: Well, Marine fisheries in Hatteras have said that I was not in violation of state or federal license. I only needed the license when I landed the fish in state waters, not when I boated it. I renewed my license before we came into NC state water. So, not entirely.

PB:There a lot of articles on the internet with your name in it, what kind of reactions are you getting from people you speak to?

PW: "Well, a lot of people are on my side, and then there are also a lot of people who are ignorant and don't know what they are talking about."

After speaking with Wann and gathering a little bit of background information this is what I know. I know that he goes to college at George Washington University and studies engineering he does not fish full time, and he considers this a fun summer job. He enjoys fishing, and has spent his last 4 summers in NC fishing as a mate off various boats. Fishing is something that he loves to do, and prefers to do it with some anonymity. Unfortunately this no longer seems possible, his name and reputation are being questioned by numerous media outlets. He is even being confronted by random people both in person and via Facebook.

I spoke with two sources both of whom are close friends of Peter Wann. One told me that Peter is certainly not cheap, this is not a matter of him not wanting to spend the $30 to purchase the license. The source told me that Peter and him went on a fishing trip to Florida last winter and that Peter covered the majority of the expenses on the trip. He weighed in by saying, "I really can't imagine a scenario where Pete would be too cheap to renew his license, I mean I vacation with this guy and he is always willing to spend money to ensure that the people he is with are having a good time. Yea, I am certain that if Peter knew he needed the license he would have spent the $30."

A second source close to Wann told me that he fishes with Peter on a regular basis, and he assured me that you will never see anyone on a boat pay closer attention to detail. "I go fishing with him all the time, and when it comes to fishing Peter Wann is a perfectionist. He will spend hours on end rigging lines and cleaning the damn boat. Sometimes, it is a little excessive but that's just Peter. There is not a chance in hell that if he knew he needed that license that he would not have got it."

If these two friends of Wann are so certain that he would have obtained the license had he known about it, then why didn't Peter Wann have a license? From where I am sitting, and based solely on the people I have talked to I would venture to guess that Peter really did not know about the license. Even if he did, The Captain is in charge of the boat and shame on him for not doing his due diligence and asking for proof of license from everyone fishing on his boat. The backlash has certainly been against Peter Wann, but in reality its not his fault.

The Captain and the boat's owners are really the ones responsible for the loss of 1.2 million dollars in prize money. They failed to send someone to the rules meeting, they were not sufficient in their understanding of the rules and ultimately it cost them.