Ban powerheads in the US EEZ?

[Rick Murchison]

Genesis once bubbled...
The other side of this is that if you powerhead the shark there is no guarantee you will kill him (especially if its a large shark), and you've just dumped a LOT of blood and guts in the water, which is not all that good if there is more than one shark around!

Now, let me begin by saying that in '62, everybody knew that the only good shark was a dead shark, and we were just cleaning up the local beaches and keeping 'em safe for swimming & surfing. Now we know better.
Unless something's changed about sharks or powerheads in the last 40 years, neither conjecture above is true. (of course our homemade devices used 12 Ga shotgun shells rather than .38 cal pistol cartridges) I can state with absolute certainty that any fish up to 300 pounds hit anywhere from the middle of the head to the middle of the body with a 12 Ga powerhead will just roll over dead, and there won't be much in the way of blood - and no guts - in the water. All the powerhead material is stopped in just a few inches of fish flesh (as there is no "barrel" per se on a powerhead, the projectile doesn't get moving much at all before all the gasses propelling it are dispersed into the surrounding flesh, so there is very little penetration) - the shock and damage from expanding gasses are so severe that death is instantaneous, including the heart, and the blood stops flowing immediately. The wound will "leak" a little, but won't flow like one might expect. The shock also turns a lot of fish flesh into useless mush that's inedible. A horribly wasteful way to harvest fish.
As Walter has said, powerheads are not efficient for harvesting, and nobody that I know of uses 'em for that.
There is no compelling reason to get the government involved, and lots of compelling reasons to keep the government out of Scuba.
Rick

 

[Genesis]

a whole group of spearfishermen off the Florida East Coast who use these things religiously.

Some of them are commercial spearfishermen, and they have a reputation for cleaning reefs over there in a very methodical and efficient manner - every legal fish is excised.

This isn't a "scuba" issue so much as it is a "fishing" issue.... the LACK OF regulation of means of take in that arena is why we have severely depleted stocks of several species....

 

[subdude]

You did not have the choice I would have selected ... leave things as they are. I am a resident of Fla and they are illegal to use for the harvest of fish. It ain't broke so lets not fix it.

By the way, I do not get in the water to shoot fish without a .45 powerhead ready for use at a moments notice ... protection only.

subdude

 

[Genesis]

they are not illegal outside of Florida State waters.

That is, while you can't use one within 3 miles of land on the atlantic side and 9 miles on the gulf, outside of both of those ranges are plenty of diveable water, and they're LEGAL to use for harvest there.

I understand and agree with using them for personal protection, but not for harvest. And, as I've said before, I spearfish - my position is not "anti-hunting".

The issue is that they ARE being routinely used by Florida spearfishermen for hunting beyond state waters.

 

[redacted]

If the issue is environmental or safety, with supporting data and rational, then the government probably should consider regulation. If not, then why get involved?

 

[Genesis]

to have some fish left in a few years.

 

[Walter]

The method should not come into play. If numbers need to limited, they should be limited regardless of take method. It should apply equally to powerheads, spears, hook & line and to nets.

 

[SM Diver]

I have to wonder how many people participaing in this thread have actually powerheaded a fish, or seen one powerheaded. Click here for a picture of a powerheaded fish. The AJ in the foreground was powerheaded. The other fish were not. He was hit in the gill plate, and you can see that it caused some serious immediate trauma, but it didn't blow him apart.

Now, there is actually no meat destroyed on that fish. I assure you, two very nice fillets were taken. So, any arguments of powerheading being inefficient, or desimmating the fish, is wrong. Yes, I guess if I powerheaded a porgy, it might blow him to pieces, but most people save the powerheading for AJs, larger Grouper, Cobia, and, of course, if necessary a Shark.

It can be safer on the diver to use a powerhead, as I can attest having been dragged up and down a ledge last Saturday by a big AJ, all the while with alarms going on and off for ascent violations. If I had powerheaded him it would have killed him.

I disagree with virtually every point you have made in this thread, Genesis, which I know must surprise you. Powerheading spearfishermen are not raiding any reefs that I know of. And you need to once and for all make up your mind as to whether or not you want more or less government.

 

[Rick Murchison]

tampascott once bubbled...
I have to wonder how many people participaing in this thread have actually powerheaded a fish, .... He was hit in the gill plate, and you can see that it caused some serious immediate trauma, but it didn't blow him apart.Now, there is actually no meat destroyed on that fish.

Head shot - good shot. I was talking body shot, compared to spear shaft. Mush...
And, as I said, our power heads were 12 Gauge - a bit more powder than the .38.
Rick

 

[Bob3]

I agree with Walter; if a species needs protecting, then by all means apply the regulation across the board.

Commercial spearfishing happens to be the most eco-friendly method of large fish harvesting. There is no incedental by-catch of non-targeted species or undersize fish, and no reefs/bottom torn up by nets.
The use of nets in some areas kills many TONS of non-target species that are just kicked overboard, also kills marine mammals, turtles, and even birds.

Maybe we should be encouraging the use of divers over other forms of commercial fishing, eh?
:mean: