Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Les Anderson (fisher)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was merge to Soldotna, Alaska. Merge and redirect, purely a merge to tag talk pages accordingly for attribution Courcelles 16:30, 18 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Les Anderson (fisher)[edit]

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This is a slow news day story and fails WP:GNG with no lasting notability outside of catching the fish and his reported death. Some guy caught a big salmon. Does this need an article of its own? No. Lugnuts ^{Dick Laurent is dead} 16:30, 10 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

~~Delete~~Redirect. The news hero is and was the salmon, not the fisherman. A bit could go to chinook salmon.Truth or consequences-2 (talk) 17:08, 10 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. While the holder of the biggest salmon record may not be a notable person (or may be a WP:BIO1E case), the record itself is. More generally, the general subject of biggest catches ought to be covered somewhere on Wikipedia, since it is a subject of intense interest and coverage among those folks who follow competitive fishing. In a very quick search I found a couple of pages listing fishing records for other states but not one for Alaska. Maybe someone else can identify a suitable merge target; in the absence of a more precise merge target, I guess I'd suggest merging this information to the article on chinook salmon. I note that this record is also mentioned in the article for Soldotna, Alaska, where it happened; I've added a couple of the sources from this article to that one. --Arxiloxos (talk) 17:13, 10 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

On further investigation, it turns out that Les Anderson's record is mentioned at chinook salmon#physical description. A series of edits in 2010-2011 made the claim that the record had been surpassed by another fisherman in British Columbia. This claim was later reported to be incorrect, and the apparent hoax on Wikipedia made the papers: see, for example, "Record king salmon another Wrongipedia entry", Associated Press (in the Wisconsin State Journal), August 10, 2010. Somewhere in the course of the repeated edits inserting and removing the incorrect information, Anderson's name disappeared from the article,[1] although his record was later restored.[2]. In doing all this digging, I also found that there is considerably more and longer-lasting news coverage than you'd expect about Les Anderson, his record, and its impact on his home town: look at the 80+ GNews results for <"Les Anderson" Soldotna"> [3], and comments like this one from the local paper at "Les Anderson Day" in 2005: "The chamber and Soldotna's business community owe a debt of gratitude to Anderson, as his catch is widely credited with helping establish the city as a premier sportfishing destination. Today, sportfishing is a key component of the city's business community, and summertime visitors bring millions of dollars to the local economy." [4] --Arxiloxos (talk) 19:44, 10 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. czar · · 01:30, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Alaska-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:29, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Redirect I think the nominator may have a poor understanding of Alaskan culture. That's ok, we are more than used to it, but I can assure you that something like this is big news in these parts. You have to understand that the Kenai Peninsula has basically three industries: oil and gas exploration, (which is mostly offshore), tourism, and fishing. So being able to claim world record status is very good for two of those industries. (there is also money in the mix more directly as world records for fishing generally have cash prizes and there are also numerous "fishing derbies" in this part of Alaska)

That being said I do not believe this merits a stand-alone article on the person who caught the fish. It's about as clear a case of WP:BLP!E as you can get. A redirect to the article on Soldotna, where the catch was recorded and where Mr. Anderson lived, is enough. Beeblebrox (talk) 02:55, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. I am fine with Redirect based on Beeblebrox's explanation. Thanks also to Arxiloxos for the digging; in my reading, the salmon is still the hero, as the catch is "what is credited...". Truth or consequences-2 (talk) 15:47, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment. I'm fine with Beeblebrox's suggestion that the better redirect target is Soldotna, Alaska, especially since the sources suggest that Anderson is something of a local legend there. I added a couple more sources to that article, and maybe I'll be able to go see that big fish someday. --Arxiloxos (talk) 21:45, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, happy for the redirect too. Thanks. Lugnuts ^{Dick Laurent is dead} 08:45, 12 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.