Having the right tool to do the right thing

[JBFG]

so on my last sidemount certification dive today my instructor and I came up to something that was disturbing. There was an octopus that got trapped in a lobster look alike trap. It was made of reinforced wire, not the light chicken wire.

6941F2B8-6891-43B7-AFC4-ACBCDCB5ABD3

• JBFG
• Aug 19, 2018

Octopus trapped!

My instructor tried to cut it open with his line cutter but like I said the wire was too strong.

In came the DGX shears!!!

AEEA7B5A-92B5-48EA-8D65-4FE4956B13A8

• JBFG
• Aug 19, 2018

In no time our little friend was free from its prison.

@DiveGearExpress you made this happen!! Your titanium shears were the perfect tool to do the right thing and not turn a blind eye!

I’m definitely ordering a new pair when I can as this aquatic life saving pair is a bit battle damaged now.

I don’t cary a lot of cutting tools but a BFK would not have freed my new friend. I will never go without my shears ever.

Anyone else ever had such an experience?

 

[Marie13]

Not me but other divers on the same charter. Last summer I was on my first charter on the Great Lakes. There’s a shallow wreck, about 40ft to the sand, called the Material Service Barge in southern Lake Michigan. A buddy pair found about 100ft of metal fishing line leader and a heavy float. The divers couldn’t cut it with their line cutters. Only a pair of shears did it (they brought it up so other divers didn’t get caught in it.) After that, I got a pair of shears and always carry them on the Great Lakes now.

 

[Sam Miller III]

You might have had the right tool -- but-- did you do right by leaving the wire mesh gage on the bottom?
It will "continue fishing" until it disintegrates or is covered by sand and debris

Next time follow @Marie13 s lead and bring the cage to the surface and to dry land for proper disposal.

SDM

 

[JBFG]

Good point Sam. I the trap was attached to a line a a surface buoy. So we are hoping that it will be removed this morning once the boat comes and retrieve them

 

[northernone]

Good point Sam. I the trap was attached to a line a a surface buoy. So we are hoping that it will be removed this morning once the boat comes and retrieve them

While glad to hear the shears are strong, using them to wilfully destroy/damage the means of another man's livehood I feel might put scuba divers in a poor light. I grew up and live where hunting, fishing and trapping is normal.

Disturbing another human's method of feeding themselves based on our own preferences feels pretty bad for me.

Would you also use your dive sheers to cut a few chickens out of a farmer's cage on the way home?

I don't see how vandalizing local low impact harvesting from the sea is justifiable just because we are foreigners who have a personal dislike for bycatch and local business methods.

I have been glad for my BFK when I ended up burrito-ed inside a blanket in a mild river whirlpool.


Cameron

 

[JBFG]

Normally I would agree with you. But it’s illegal to do so here as we were in a protected marine park so was I really in the wrong?
I don’t think that disturbing poacher is morally wrong.

Had it been legal that would have been something else

 

[northernone]

Normally I would agree with you. But it’s illegal to do so here as we were in a protected marine park so was I really in the wrong?
I don’t think that disturbing poacher is morally wrong.

Had it been legal that would have been something else

That does change things for me too.

I'm still uncomfortable with holiday divers performing vigilante sabotage on local businesses based on their interpretation of marine regulations. Which regulation violations do we have the right to enforce as foreigners by destroying property?

Particularly we have no idea if they are exempt from the regulations due to something like aboriginal harvest rights.

Seems a dangerous battle to begin. Especially if the fishermen retaliate. It's someone's livehood at stake if their traps are damaged.

...I don't like poachers either.

Cameron

 

[JBFG]

Fair point again but note that my instructor is the one that did the cutting and he is a local. I gave him the tool lol

 

[Diver0001]

so on my last sidemount certification dive today my instructor and I came up to something that was disturbing. There was an octopus that got trapped in a lobster look alike trap. It was made of reinforced wire, not the light chicken wire.

6941F2B8-6891-43B7-AFC4-ACBCDCB5ABD3

• JBFG
• Aug 19, 2018

Octopus trapped!

My instructor tried to cut it open with his line cutter but like I said the wire was too strong.

In came the DGX shears!!!

AEEA7B5A-92B5-48EA-8D65-4FE4956B13A8

• JBFG
• Aug 19, 2018

In no time our little friend was free from its prison.

@DiveGearExpress you made this happen!! Your titanium shears were the perfect tool to do the right thing and not turn a blind eye!

I’m definitely ordering a new pair when I can as this aquatic life saving pair is a bit battle damaged now.

I don’t cary a lot of cutting tools but a BFK would not have freed my new friend. I will never go without my shears ever.

Anyone else ever had such an experience?

We've regularly freed wildlife from lost netting but never from an active trap. "Freeing" something from an active trap is an act of vandalism and may even be illegal in some areas..... aside to being incredibly insensitive to the legitimate business of fishing.

Given that you subsequently said that it was poaching in a marine park then I'll side with you but you still need to be aware that fishermen have a legitimate business to be trapping animals in the ocean and while this may have been poaching, I'll advise you to be cautious when deciding when to destroy a trap and when not to.

R..

 

[Silty Sam]

I didn't know poachers left lines going up to surface buoys?

In any event, we don't mess with traps here in Maine. Very much against the law. If you're seen screwing with lobster gear, even ghost gear, without permission, you would hope the Marine Wardens get to you before the lobsterman does...