Marsden Cove Beach and Boat Fishing comp canned this weekend

The Marsden Cove Beach and Boat Fishing Competition, with Mitchell Jackson, Sigourney Crammond and Bear Jackson looking happy with their trio of John Dory from last year's event, has been cancelled.

The Beach and Boat Fishing Competition, planned for Marsden Cove this coming weekend, has been cancelled, with the organiser saying it wasn't viable to run it this year.

Organiser Candice Lawson said she hoped to restart the competition next year, but lack of support form some sponsors meant it could not be run this year.

Lawson said all people who had bought tickets for the event, which was to have run from Marsden Cove Marina, would be fully refunded.

''It wasn't an easy decision to make, but given a series of let downs, delays and consent restraints the event on the horizon was not going to be what previous contestants would have expected, so the difficult decision has been made to cancel the event and refund ticket sales, as opposed to deliver an event of a lesser standard,'' she said.

She said some sponsors were not able to commit to the event this year while others could not provide the same level of support as previously.

''I'm incredibly grateful to the sponsors that continued to be behind this event, the new ones that were excited to be on board, and the loyal anglers who were gearing up for this event,'' Lawson said.

''Please know that I worked incredibly hard up, right up until last night, to try to secure prizes and amenities worthy of your attendance before making this decision. I'm sorry this news will disappoint you, but again I was not prepared to deliver a 'scaled down' event or 'more basic' prizes that some in the industry would have liked me to offer you.''

Lawson said she was devastated to have to cancel the event so close to the weekend, but she had no other option.

Another aspect in the cancellation was that there would be no campground available for fishers to stay overnight in, which deterred some.

''This is a huge loss, not just for the fishers and me, but the whole Bream Bay community that benefits from having these extra people in the area spending their money here,'' she said.

''I know there will be some who are happy about it because they don't want to share their fishing ground with others, but there will be far more who are upset by it not going ahead this year.''

She hoped it would be back in the future though.

''When the hard work of returning the prizes, refunding ticket sales and disestablishing the event set up is done, and I've liaised with the sponsors who did want this event to continue at a high standard, I will update you all with the future of Beach and Boat,'' she said.