Jew Fish Shooting on Thunderbolt Wreck

[John_B]

One additional point, its not as though there is any challenge to spearing a jewfish on SCUBA. They don't exactly dart away when you approach them...

If it were me I'd have abandoned my dive plan at that point and followed the little bastard back to his boat in order to pass the relevant info to FWC. No confrontation, just to gather the info needed to arrest him later. But that's just the way I am...

 

[lil sis]

That is really sad that people are killing just to kill. It would be different(still sad) if they had taken it to eat it but to kill it so brutally and leave it! It is too bad that you were not able to surface to get the info you need to turn them in.

 

[Faust]

Ok,,,, It all going to be blasted but here goes .. How many of you spear ? In the gulf or in keys ? These things are a neucence, the Jew Fish populations from the Northern Gulf to the Keys have EXPLODED since the ban was put in place . They have been known to charge dives with fish on their stringers , and yes there have been a number of people hurt or killed . But the random and not taken killing of these fish is a crime which is justifiabley punishiable . The selfdefense driven kill of one might not be . I also say this because I have had one of the resident Jew fish at that wreck decide that my stringer was fair game , and I was tossed about like a rag dolly, and had to remove the beast from my personal space , all while non-spearfishing divers floated near by wondering why I was beating that poor (150 #) defenseless fishy off the the butt of my gun . Again I would not condone what these divers did just putting forth the there are or could have been another side to the story .

 

[Thalassamania]

Ok,,,, It all going to be blasted but here goes .. How many of you spear ? In the gulf or in keys ? These things are a neucence, the Jew Fish populations from the Northern Gulf to the Keys have EXPLODED since the ban was put in place . They have been known to charge dives with fish on their stringers , and yes there have been a number of people hurt or killed . But the random and not taken killing of these fish is a crime which is justifiabley punishiable . The selfdefense driven kill of one might not be . I also say this because I have had one of the resident Jew fish at that wreck decide that my stringer was fair game , and I was tossed about like a rag dolly, and had to remove the beast from my personal space , all while non-spearfishing divers floated near by wondering why I was beating that poor (150 #) defenseless fishy off the the butt of my gun . Again I would not condone what these divers did just putting forth the there are or could have been another side to the story .

I'd appreciate documentation of the, "number of people hurt or killed." Frankly I don't believe a word if it. I've had a 5 foot Jewfish locked onto my arm, all the way up to my arm pit and I was not hurt, didn't even rip my diveskin.

 

[gatorblueyes]

Ok,,,, It all going to be blasted but here goes .. How many of you spear ? In the gulf or in keys ? These things are a neucence, the Jew Fish populations from the Northern Gulf to the Keys have EXPLODED since the ban was put in place . They have been known to charge dives with fish on their stringers , and yes there have been a number of people hurt or killed . But the random and not taken killing of these fish is a crime which is justifiabley punishiable . The selfdefense driven kill of one might not be . I also say this because I have had one of the resident Jew fish at that wreck decide that my stringer was fair game , and I was tossed about like a rag dolly, and had to remove the beast from my personal space , all while non-spearfishing divers floated near by wondering why I was beating that poor (150 #) defenseless fishy off the the butt of my gun . Again I would not condone what these divers did just putting forth the there are or could have been another side to the story .

Odd...we just dove the Tbolt and speared a large snapper and none of the jewfish there batted an eye. There were two smallish ones and one beast right there. I would like to believe there is another side of the story...just because it hurts and scares me to believe there is not.

 

[Faust]

Might of mis-rememberd about the death one , I was wrong the Darwin Recipient was feerdiving and speared one and was drowned . But the have been 2 that come to memory that were publishedin Florida Scuba News over the past 2 years . Iam not sure If I have those handy but will look to get the dates . A five footer has the ability to slam you around with enough force to do some damage you are luck you got off that eazy. But you are also an experianced diver think in terms of a newer person dealing with that . I am in no was saying that every single jewfish out there is eyeing your catch but they have been known to make a dive difficult.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1421113/posts

 

[deepstops]

I'd appreciate documentation of the, "number of people hurt or killed." Frankly I don't believe a word if it. I've had a 5 foot Jewfish locked onto my arm, all the way up to my arm pit and I was not hurt, didn't even rip my diveskin.

Don't know of any deaths but there have been spearos hurt by jewfish. It's well documented on spearboard and spearfishingplanet.
Additionally, as it stands today, nature is out of balance with the protections in place. If you dive the wrecks in the Gulf like the Fantastico or the Bayronto, you will not see black or gag grouper because the jewfish eat them all.
There will be a limited harvest on jewfish in the not too distant future, count on it.

However, until that happens, these guys are breaking the law and I would have immediately aborted my dive to get get their FL numbers and notify the authorities.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

I too am not condoning the actions of these individuals, however, as several have indicated, we don't know the circumstances leading up to the killing of the fish.

I do remember reading a story in a diving magazine many years ago, which told the detailed account of a spearfisherman who had his catchbag swallowed by a large grouper. I also remember the account indicating that, because of the fact that the diver was unable to seperate himself from his catchbag, he went for a pretty violent ride and was dragged around for a while before he was able to get free, which put him in a pretty dangerous situation.

What would you do in that situation?

Chances are, it was just a bunch of idiot divers who did it for fun, then took off so they wouldn't get caught; however, if there was a justifiable reason for their actions, I don't blame them for making a hasty retreat, because, just as the nay sayers have proven by their disbelief displayed on this board, those divers probably wouldn't have been believed either.

 

[fl-diver]

I agree that what these people (if this is the whole story) did was wrong but these kind of comments really bother me.

On July 26th myself and my girlfriend were diving the Thunderbolt, when we witnessed a diver shoot the baby Goliath Grouper (Jew Fish), and then stab it 3-4 times with his knife, and leave it behind. I couldnt do anything to the diver (cut his HP hose, drop his weights) to teach him a lesson as his 3 buddies were watching with loaded spear guns. By the time we got back to our boat, they had sped off.

"(cut his HP hose, drop his weights)" Do you really want to murder somebody for killing a fish?

Oh my how awful and sad! Why would someone do that? We were just there over July 4th. Lots of big fish...we may have even seen that one. We got a huge snapper about 35-40 pounds. Any real spearfisherman would try to stone a fish not mutilate it.

So killing a 35-40 pounds probably very old snapper is fine with you but not a juvenile grouper.
Don't you think they wanted to stone-it?

Terrible. Should have surfaced and sank his boat.

That would be a fitting punishment but then all of the fuel in the boat would damage the reef. Better to stick to attempted murder like the OP.

unfortunatly we had racked up some deco and couldnt get up quick enough. One guy with a knife and his GF next to him cant do much with 4 guys with spear guns. It was extremly sad, kinda like watching a friend through a window being murdered cause you cant get out to help them.

I think you and your girlfriend couple have taken them while they re-loaded.


Like I said, these people broke the law and that is not cool but lets be a little more mature than threats of violence. I think if FWC did not see it happen and they did not keep the fish nothing would happen anyway.
Before anybody decides to threaten people or try to sink their boat they may want to review the guns laws in Florida.
I guess everybody here is a vegetarian who doesn't eat fish because I'm sure all of the animals we eat are killed very humanely.

 

[cerich]

I'd appreciate documentation of the, "number of people hurt or killed." Frankly I don't believe a word if it. I've had a 5 foot Jewfish locked onto my arm, all the way up to my arm pit and I was not hurt, didn't even rip my diveskin.

but there is pretty good pressure exerted....

They release when you stick a finger in their gills.