"disrespect for life'' by a US tourist.

Capt. Rick Richards has strongly defended himself against the allegations, from visitor Mr. Raymond Humphreys of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Humphreys, who took a fishing trip with his wife on Capt. Richards' boat Traveller , says he caught a white marlin and told the captain he wanted it tagged and released as a conservation measure.

Instead, says Mr. Humphreys, the marlin was "beaten to death against my wishes''.

The allegations come in a letter from Mr. Humphreys, sent to The Royal Gazette and other bodies in Bermuda.

Capt. Richards has drafted his own letter and plans to send copies to the Bermuda Industrial Union, the Government Fisheries Division and his lawyer.

He said Mr. Humphreys and his wife did not pay for a full $750 charter but were $150-a-head passengers on a commercial meat fishing trip -- with the fish kept by the captain to defray costs.

In his letter, Mr. Humphreys said: "Having read about the tag and release system at the Aquarium my wife and I made arrangements with Robinson's Marina to go deep sea fishing for the day. When I made the reservations I inquired if I would be able to tag and release a marlin if I caught one, and was assured that I could.'' Mr. Humphreys said he caught an 85 to 90 pound white marlin. "As soon as I brought him in, I said I wanted him tagged and released, and was told in no uncertain terms: `We don't do that on this boat'. I quickly said: `Well, just throw him back then, I don't want to kill him', to which I was told `No fish goes back from this boat!' and they immediately started violently clubbing him to death.

"The sight of this poor creature's blood being spattered all over my wife's face as he was being beaten to death against my wishes, combined with seasickness, made me physically ill.'' The incident showed "greed of the worst sort and total disrespect for life, for the environment, and for nature'', said Mr. Humphreys.

But Capt. Richards said he took Mr. Humphreys out as a passenger on a commercial trip because there were not enough passengers for a charter.

"We do tag and release to a degree, but at this point we actually went meat fishing because there were not enough people to take the boat,'' he said.

"The tourist industry is low and as a fisherman I need to get out, so we went out meat fishing, to catch wahoos and whatever else, and Mr. Humphreys knew that before we left the dock.

"I explained to him that we were out on a day to catch some fish. This was told to him, that we went out to catch some fish to defray some of the cost of the day's fishing. He knew that.'' When the marlin was caught, Mr. Humphreys did not ask for it to be tagged and released, said Capt. Richards, and in any case it would have been too late.

"When it got closer to the boat we gaffed the fish automatically and he asked me what I would do with it. I told him that we were out here on a commercial run and the fish had commercial value and we would take it. And we boated the fish.'' He denied saying: "We don't do that on this boat.'' "I'm concerned about the environment -- I think every fisherman is. I've never seen a marlin killed yet with a club and blood splattered all over the place. The fish has to be put out of its misery as quickly as possible so you take a billy and you give it a tap.'' The marlin did not bleed on Mrs. Humphreys, he said. "Mr. Humphreys caught one of the best days any boat's had for quite a while. It was a super day for $300. This letter has totally annoyed me.''