Ralph G. Christiansen, Jr., an IGFA International Representative since 1978 and member of the IGFA’s Board of Trustees since 1996, has been lost at sea following a plane crash Sunday evening, February 8, 2009 off the northern edge of Puerto Rico.
Christiansen, along with five other U.S. citizens on the plane, was returning to Puerto Rico from a fishing trip to La Romana, Dominican Republic, when his plane went down approximately a half mile from Quebradillas P.R.According to news reports rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather and high seas.
The son of Ralph G. Christiansen, Sr., a pioneer blue marlin fisherman who helped encourage government officials to develop the sport in Puerto Rico and a founder of the Club Nautico de San Juan, young Ralph started fishing at age four. It was his father’s close friend and fishing companion, Esteban “Chilo” Bird, who became the young man’s mentor (his father remained a light-tackle angler). While fishing with Don Chilo, Ralph increased his knowledge and perfected his technique, catching his first five blue marlin. At a young age he learned the importance of keeping meticulous records on every fish and began his stewardship of the sport.
Ralph was also a founder of the Puerto Rico Game Fishing Association and, at age 30, was the youngest Commodore of Club Nautico de San Juan. During his fishing career he caught more than 600 Atlantic blue marlin, releasing and tagging most of them.
Dedicated to conservation and the sporting ideals of the IGFA, he implemented a catch-and-release policy on his boat in the mid-1970s that continued throughout the remainder of his life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial tributes be made to the International Game Fish Association and The Billfish Foundation.
