HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) — The United States won the 66th edition of the Ernest Hemingway International Fishing Tournament, the biggest ever in history held in Havana, Cuba, with over 500 enthusiasts.

After four intense days, the US crew “Unbelievable” won the crown among 90 competing vessels, the Marlin SA Marina and Nautical group reported on Saturday during the closing event.

Authorities reported at the Marina Residence that Bull Run and Calhoun Queen also from the US obtained second and third place respectively, demonstrating the experience of the US competitors in this sport.

Other results went to Blue Heron with a 31.5 lb dorado and Sea Clusion with a 39 lb fish, both also from the US, which participated with 83 vessels.

The winner with the largest tuna went to Doris, which represented the fishing community of Cojimar in the municipality of Habana del Este, while Solfia D from Canada won the prize for the first capture by a woman.

In the closing ceremony, Alexis Trujillo, First deputy tourism minister, described the tournament as successful. This competition also had competing teams from Lithuania, Argentina, Russia, Holland, Britain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy and France.

Trujillo pointed out that during the four-day fishing event, there were 88 captures of marlins, the highest amount in history.

Trujillo invited the participants to compete in the next edition to be held from May 29 to June 3, 2017.

Created in the 1950s by the Nobel Literature Prize laureate, the tournament stands out among others its type such as the World Tuna Cup in Nova Scotia, and the Sable Tournament in Mexico.

Cuba is highly attractive due to its geographic location for sports fishing due to the strong sea currents associated with ocean species, while the deep basins and Caribbean bottoms of the Florida straits and The Bahamas serve as ecological barriers.

atlantic_blue_marlin.jpg  Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans). Photo: NOAA

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