The future of the country's - if not the world's - biggest surfcasting contest is in doubt.
Unpaid creditors are taking court action against the Snapper Classic fishing competition at Ninety Mile Beach.
Signs of trouble first emerged earlier this year when some winners complained they had not been paid their prize
money.
The prize pool totals a hefty $250,000, with $50,000 going to the biggest snapper of the five-day competition.
The contest attracts fishers from as far away as Germany and the United Kingdom and is said to pump $6 million into the Far North each year.
But Auckland firm Yetimo Marketing has applied to have the company that runs the contest, Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Classic, put into liquidation. The hearing is scheduled for December 15 in the High Court at Auckland.
Yetimo general manager Troy Little said the application was made after the company failed to pay for merchandise supplied for the contest. He would not say any more as the matter was before the courts and the company was being given a last chance to pay up. The amount owing is not known.
Snapper Classic directors Srecko and Yvette Urlich could not be contacted yesterday, and the Awanui/Doubtless Bay phone number given on the contest website had been disconnected.
Last week they had assured the Kaitaia business community the contest was going ahead as planned.
Adding to the uncertainty, Lion Red has pulled out of the event after 20 years of sponsorship.
A maximum of 1000 tickets are sold each year, but the Advocate understands the contest earlier this year was under-subscribed.
This summer's Snapper Classic is scheduled for March 23-27, three weeks later than usual. Entering the heaviest snapper section costs $250; the team event costs $100.
The contest is based at Waipapakauri, north of Kaitaia, and has acquired near legendary status since it was founded by Tony Brljevich in the 1980s.
The Brljevich family ran the event for 25 years before handing the reins to Srecko and Yvette Urlich in 2007. Although based in Auckland, Mr Urlich hails from a Far North family and owns property at Houhora.
This year's contest was the subject of a movie by Florian Habicht, Land of the Long White Cloud.
Hikurangi forklift driver Rama Waipouri was the 2009 winner, taking home $53,000 after landing a 9.57kg snapper.
