Killing Aquatic life?

[IceIce]

I guess I was lucky.
In my OW, I was taught: Do Not Kill to Feed, in recretional diving term.

 

[highlandfarmwv]

It would be nice if there was some way to bring some of those urchins to the Florida Keys to eat the excess algae that is taking it over....

 

[andrejs]

WOW! I can't believe this actually happens. I think I'd get pretty upset if someone did this on a dive I was on. You'd better believe I'd complain and find another charter.

2nd. I think I'd be pretty upset as well

 

[TMHeimer]

I saw this once on a training dive. I personally won't do it but I fail to see the difference between killing one urchin and harvesting millions. There is a tremendous commercial market for urchins. Try Google...

In that way, I don't differentiate between killing a sea urchin or spear fishing a sea bass. Except that at least the urchin fed other fish, not just the hunter.

I prefer not to hunt anything. I would rather take pictures.

Richard

I wouldn't kill one for no reason, but there is a big difference between one and millions. I assume you are a vegetarian.

 

[pwl]

in NSW (australia) it is permitted to take purple sea urchins with a bag limit of 10 per day whilst using SCUBA

given this, if we're diving in a non-protected area, i will occasionally demonstrate how the blue groper feeds by shucking a single urchin out from under a rock ledge where the groper can't get to it. urchin are a favourite natural food of blue groper & they actively seek them out. i don't kill or cut open the urchin, but simply make it possible for the groper to get to it during the day. (some groper are so lazy from divers killing them that they sit & wait for me to make the cut, but i just let the urchin run away if the fish doesn't make its own effort)

this is only on the occasional dive & accompanied by explanation of what's going on. i *could* take 10 urchins & carry them home - but i don't, and i don't feed the gropers more than once every 20 dives or so.

 

[maged_mmh]

still wondering how do you open it??

 

[Walter]

still wondering how do you open it??

Grab it with your bare hands, drop your regulator out of your mouth and bite it open.

 

[maged_mmh]

Grab it with your bare hands, drop your regulator out of your mouth and bite it open.

but what about the spikes?

 

[Capt Scotty]

The simple solution is to send all them that you don't want on the west coast to the keys. We could use them to clean our reefs.

 

[J.R.]

Wow... another 2 year old thread dredged up to create traffic...

Let's see... does anybody know the difference between a hunter who kills a deer to eat and a guy who buys a hamburger at McDonalds??? A: The hunter does't do his killing by proxy.

Oh... and maged_mmh asked, "What about the spikes?" A: Use them to get the little bits out from between your teeth...

There IS a difference between "use" and "abuse"... the trick is knowing that difference...
what is the difference between using an urchin to attract fish... or crushing snails for dye? ... or eating lobsters? Which would you rather do... kill a Crown of Thorns to keep them from erradicating a reef... or sit back in moralistic bliss and watch the reef get erradicated and thereby particiapte in the killing of the reef by inaction???