At every competition the judges score every fish that entered. Those scores are sorted highest first to give the places — across the whole field, not inside each species. The place decides the points.

Nobody who is judged goes home with nothing. Equal scores share the better place and the next place is skipped. Points are added up across the season; the flare column shows each fish's best mark of the year, not its average, so entering more competitions can never count against you.