Shark Weekend set for Aug. 3-5 in Nahant

NAHANT – Participants in Shark Weekend in Nahant on Aug. 3, 4 and 5 hope to be catching and releasing live 12-foot long, 1,000 pound sharks in New England waters and eating smoked shark on the beach to raise money for the National Brain Tumor Society.Cambridge resident Dan Hermann decided to hold the fundraiser after losing both his brother and father to a brain tumor about 20 years ago.?I had a lamb roast in my front yard a couple of years ago, and it made for a really fun afternoon,” said Hermann. “I go fishing a lot and I have a boat, and I catch and release sharks all the time. They are big animals so I thought if you could roast one of those things it?d be a great event. I reached out to the National Brain Tumor Society and they were thrilled.”Hermann chose Nahant for the fundraiser because he takes his boat to Nahant Beach “quite often” because “it?s a very easy place to go.”He said the Life Saving Station is a perfect venue for the event because of its “nice outdoor grounds.”The fundraiser has become a weekend-long event, beginning with what Hermann said is “the only pure catch-and-release tourney in New England” on Friday, Aug. 3 from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.According to Hermann, participants pay $300 and take photos of the sharks they catch to gain points. Depending on how many boats enter, the winner could take home about $2,000. With the fishing entry fee, a participant receives three tickets to the next-day barbecue.?Basically the rule is only one person can fight the fish, and it should be with a rod and reel – no trumped-up shark-catching devices,” said Hermann. “I would say as far as shark tournaments go, it?s a good tournament to enter if you don?t have a ton of experience because you don?t have to bring the shark in the boat. Shark fishing itself is dangerous, but if you don?t have to get it in the boat it?s infinitely easier.”There will also be a tagging component of the contest. At the Captain?s Meeting on Aug. 1, the Apex Predators Program will show fishermen how to properly tag a shark?s dorsal fin so the shark can be tracked for research.?We want to introduce fishermen to that aspect of it because scientists really need help with that stuff,” said Hermann.On Saturday, Aug. 4 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. is the Beachside Barbecue and awards ceremony at the Nahant Beach Life Saving Station, where Hermann said a shark will be smoked for six to eight hours prior on a 12-foot long, 4-foot wide custom-made smoker.Participants will be able to wash down their smoked shark with a pint of Ipswich Ale from their “tap mobile” truck, which Hermann describes as “a big van that has a bunch of kegs in it with taps on the side of the truck.” Ipswich Ale will be donating 50 percent of their beer sales to the National Brain Tumor Society.The cost of the barbecue will be $50 per person, and will include parking, food and the comedy show, but not the beer.Before the barbecue, there will be a 5K race in Nahant at 10 a.m. that starts at the Life Saving Station. Hermann said there will be a professional timer and a police motorcade to escort the runners. The race registration fee is $25.To cap off the event, there will be a co-ed softball tournament in Cambridge on Sunday, Aug. 5. Teams with up to 15 people pay $300 to enter, and the fee includes a free T-shirt.?Through the process of putting the event together, I?ve been sort of overwhelmed by how many people want to get involved,” said Hermann. “I think just the planning and building of the event has added to my friends. The community kind of rallies around things for good causes, which is a really nice part of the whole event.”For more information and to purchase tickets for each event during the weekend, go to www.sharkweekend.org.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].