Kingstown St. Vincent May 25, 2026-The 49th Anniversary Fisherman’s Day activities climaxed on 25 May at Little Tokyo with veteran fisherman Eli Slater of Claire Valley, once again taking top honours after landing the heaviest catch of the competition with his Vessel Angel Eye.
Mr Slater secured the title of Fisherman of the Year 2026 with a catch weighing 929 pounds and received prize money of $25,000. During an interview following the results announcement, he described his victory as “a repeat”, revealing that it was the third time he had won the competition.
According to Mr Slater, his previous victories came in 2007, last year, and again this year.
Second place went to Oscar Richardson aboard the vessel Sarge. Mr Richardson landed 742 pounds of fish and received a prize of $12,000 dollars.
Third place was awarded to Loma Cordis and his vessel Fishhook. Mr Cordis brought in 567 pounds of fish and received $7,000 dollars in prize money.
Speaking after his win, Mr Slater credited his success to a different fishing technique involving the use of live bait and a semi-long line drift method, which he said was recommended to him by a fisherman from Grenada.
He also encouraged younger fishermen to modernise their methods, saying many were still relying on traditional techniques that were not producing strong catches.
Mr Slater said much of his winnings would go towards supporting his grandchildren.
Slater came out on top of 107 fishers and 48 vessels entered the overall competition, with 28 boats returning with catch and a total haul of 5,872 pounds of fish for the day.