diving and hunting?

[skipm45]

My wife and I are relatively new divers(100+ dives). We were in Florida recently and dove at New Smyrna. We were surprised to find that we were the only divers on the boat who were not hunting. My question: Is mixing divers and hunters a common practice in Florida? Yes, in the Caribbean, Lionish are hunted, but on these dives anything seemed to be in season, especially flounder.

Just curious.

Skip

 

[tbone1004]

no reason not to combine them, but regarding open season, nothing on the atlantic side. is closed right now except lobster and stone crab. The only species that close on the atlantic side are

Stone Crabs, mid may to mid october
Grouper from Jan to April
Snook for Jun-Aug and then again in January, and spiny lobster for april thru june.

Everything else is wide open if you're allowed to shoot it.

Gulf side is MUCH more restrictive
amberjack, bay scallops, stone crab, grouper, permit, snapper, snook, spiny lobster, and triggerfish all have very restrictive seasons

 

[Johnoly]

Not only does it depend on the boat but it may also depend on the day of the week.

For example one boat in South East Florida is a strickly a zero hunting boat. No lobster, no lion, no spearguns.

Another boat in the WPB area allows spearguns just on weekdays, not on weekends

And lastly another Florida boat is 100% hunting and doesn't even have a camera rinse bucket

So each boat (and day) is different and that's why divers who regularly practice certain activities tend to stick to a boat operation that embraces those activities (be it photo, lobster, sharks, students, spearing, and even rebreather/Tech).

At 100 dives you probably have developed one of the above mentioned activities and you can ask for advice from members here who share your activity/passion on which boats they use and what amenities that boat has to encourage the activity. An example would be "does the boat have a camera table to clean O-rings". Or does the boat have a dedicated cooler full of ice for fish kills. Other things like can your seats accommodate my gear tub underneath as well as my 8 inch diameter steel tanks.

We all like to dive with other divers who share our activity/passion and that doesn't make one boat better than another.

You just need to find the right fit for your type of activity and dive style.

....., nothing on the atlantic side. is closed right now except lobster and stone crab.

Some others like Red Snapper in Federal waters and Permit in State waters,,,,But 99.9% of us agree with your post. Just a little quirky in Florida with our rules.