[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING MICHAEL L. FARRIOR FOR HIS HARD WORK AND LEADERSHIP WITH 
                THE INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION

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                         HON. BRIAN P. BILBRAY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2009

  Mr. BILBRAY. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to congratulate 
International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Trustee Michael L. Farrior 
of Rancho Santa Fe, a long time San Diego businessman, for his 
extraordinary leadership and for his passion in promoting fishing and 
conservation.
  Mr. Farrior, whose interest in sportfishing stretches back nearly 
four decades, has become the recognized authority and historian of 
saltwater sportfishing on the West Coast. Over the years Michael has 
shared his interest in antique tackle and encouraged others to begin 
collecting and preserving old fishing equipment. The antique tackle 
collection he has assembled and the research he has shared is another 
way Michael gives back to a sport that he loves.
  A long-time member of the Tuna Club of Avalon, Mr. Farrior was 
appointed Historian and was subsequently invited to write The History 
of the Tuna Club 1898-1998. When his book was published, Mr. Farrior 
donated all of the profits to the Tuna Club Hospital Foundation. He 
approached that project with the same enthusiasm he has demonstrated 
throughout his life and his research has literally changed the way the 
International Game Fish Association viewed West Coast sportfishing.
  He is a well-respected IGFA Trustee, and has been the catalyst in 
arranging pier fishing tournaments for the youth of San Diego, as well 
as fishing trips for military patients recuperating at the San Diego 
Naval Hospital from wounds suffered in Iraq. He has also assisted the 
U.S. government by providing the historical data for use in developing 
the Highly Migratory Species Act.
  Mr. Farrior was able to establish that the birth of big-game fishing 
occurred on the West Coast and the early fishing gear used to battle 
large bluefin tuna, marlin and swordfish, evolved here. The 
sportfishing ethics and rules used today by IGFA and other fishing 
clubs were originally drafted at the Tuna Club at Avalon on Catalina 
Island at the turn of the century. ``Making Californians aware of the 
fact that big-game fishing was born here and getting California 
indelibly recognized as the birthplace of big-game fishing is one of my 
proudest achievements,'' he added ``Previously, it had literally just 
been lost to time''. Mr. Farrior's impact on West Coast sportfishing is 
also indelibly written in the history which he has preserved and which 
has consumed him throughout the years. His contributions to 
sportfishing over the years truly qualify him as Sportfishing's own 
``National Treasure.''

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