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MARCEL PROT

Marcel Prot is a man -- and an angler -- of the world.

He was born in Reims, France, studied in France and Belgium, and graduated from Harvard University's Advanced Management Program in 1960. For 32 years he served as the Mead Corporation's President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, retiring from that position in 1997.

Marcel began fishing at the age of five years old. One of his grandfathers had a boat in Monte Carlo, and introduced him to Mediterranean Sea sport fishing at a young age. With his other grandfather he fished the rivers of Europe. He learned to fly fish while in his teens, and in the 1960s he began flats fishing for tarpon and bonefish in the Florida Keys, with Capt. Jimmie Albright as his guide. For more than 25 years, fishing with a fly has been his passion.

Over the last eight decades Marcel has visited more than 50 countries, pursuing giant trevally, jacks, billfish, snook, roosterfish, redfish, permit, trout, salmon, bonefish, tarpon and other species in some of the most exotic and beautiful destinations in the world. And though he was never keen on fishing for records, he was one of the first to catch a milkfish on fly, and he has tagged and released many white, striped, black and blue marlin, and more than 200 sailfish.

Marcel considers his May 1997 trip to the Cape Verde Islands his most memorable fishing adventure. There, aboard The Hooker off Sao Vicente with Capt. Trevor Cockle, he released 15 blue marlin in one day, a record at the time. Over the course of five days in Cape Verde, 38 blues estimated to weigh up to 400 pounds were released, and a 367-pound blue marlin caught by his wife Annick remains the 16-pound IGFA world record.

Marcel is a long-time member of the prestigious Big Game Fishing Club of France (BGFCF). Founded in 1965 by some of the biggest names in French sport fishing, the Club focused on marine conservation issues from the very beginning, and served as host of the first-ever World Angling Conference at Cap d'Agde, in the south of France, in 1984. In June 2003, the Club's General Assembly and Board appointed Marcel Prot President, and the four years he held that position proved to be a revitalizing and noteworthy period for the BGFCF. Membership grew and new programs, including one for junior anglers, were conceived. Prot was responsible for the Club's newsletters and bulletins; filled with Club history and news, fishing techniques, descriptions of exciting destinations, important worldwide fisheries issues such as longlining and overfishing, IGFA news, tagging results and more, they became increasingly informative and relevant. Marcel's efforts during his tenure did much to enhance the Big Game Fishing Club's standing and reputation -- in France and around the world — as one of the most influential fishing clubs in existence.

At the same time Marcel began working with scientists in the U.S. and Europe on the electronic tagging of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea. To date more than 40 electronic tags have been implanted, and many Club members have been encouraged to get involved. Marcel has served as a consultant to the French Government and regional agencies on matters related to game fish management and protection. In 2004 he assisted the IGFA by translating the Association's fishing rules and regulations into the French language (in 2012 he did a new translation), and has helped distribute and promote their use in French-speaking countries around the world. On the island of Alphonse in the Seychelles, one of Marcel's favorite places to fish for bonefish and milkfish, he started his company "US Fly." And since the 1970s he's written articles for sport fishing magazines, including Big Game Fishing and the popular Pěches Sportives, keeping readers informed not only about proven techniques and new innovations, but also about the beaux sites de pêche à la mouche en mer.

For his dedication to the Big Game Fishing Club of France, his concern for fisheries conservation, and his advocacy of the world's anglers, the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame applauds Marcel Prot.

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