Man fired from diving job after seen holding protected species

[CajunDiva]

I think you are just touching the tip of the iceberg if you want to follow the entire scheme of things. BUT...any change has to start at the root. The fact that Cozumel dive operations are now working together as a cohesive unit (ANOAAT-Cozumel) provides an initiative for change.

Yes...for NOW, the DM is bearing the brunt of the punishment for THIS issue. BUT, it's also apparent that the climate in Cozumel is changing. Hopefully the operation that employed this guy (no matter his nationality) is now aware that they are being watched and there will be consequences to any further actions.

Change starts at the base. We can all be a part of it or choose to ignore it. I'm on board and I hope any other Cozumel divers feel the same need to do what's right. It's our dive dollars that support the industry, therefore we will ultimately make this initiative succeed.

 

[Schwob]

I think you are just touching the tip of the iceberg if you want to follow the entire scheme of things. BUT...any change has to start at the root. The fact that Cozumel dive operations are now working together as a cohesive unit (ANOAAT-Cozumel) provides an initiative for change.

Yes...for NOW, the DM is bearing the brunt of the punishment for THIS issue. BUT, it's also apparent that the climate in Cozumel is changing. Hopefully the operation that employed this guy (no matter his nationality) is now aware that they are being watched and there will be consequences to any further actions.

Change starts at the base. We can all be a part of it or choose to ignore it. I'm on board and I hope any other Cozumel divers feel the same need to do what's right. It's our dive dollars that support the industry, therefore we will ultimately make this initiative succeed.

Oh, I am all on board with protecting the reef and lifeforms on it as much as possible... and that does need to involve the little guy (the DM) ... but it certainly needs to also involve the bigger commercial interests if it is to work in the long run. The changes in Coz that you point out appear to be for the better indeed (I am way too far removed to know). I just was speaking from a POV of getting a bit tired of (mostly not even diving related) seeing the little guys getting burned only and seeing the comercial interests getting away unscathed...
The way this seems to shape up in general, maybe there is reason to hope this will work out quite well too. IDK.
I just still would like to know if in this case the DM was it, end of affair, all over for this case or if there are going to be further consequences.

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is another story to illustrate what I meant earlier about saying something when you see something you don't like. A number of years ago I booked a week of diving with Big Island Divers in Hawai'i. On our second dive the first day, the DM reached into a hole and pulled out an octopus, who was not happy about the situation and treated us to a grand ink display. As soon as we got back, I went into the shop, canceled my dives for the week, told them why, and signed up with another operation. My guess is that they had already considered the possibility that some divers would be unhappy with this but that those who were unhappy would be outweighed by those who thought it was cool. Losing a customer like me was not that important from that point of view. What was more important was writing about the experience in social media so that others like me would not book with them from the start.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Here is another story to illustrate what I meant earlier about saying something when you see something you don't like. A number of years ago I booked a week of diving with Big Island Divers in Hawai'i. On our second dive the first day, the DM reached into a hole and pulled out an octopus, who was not happy about the situation and treated us to a grand ink display. As soon as we got back, I went into the shop, canceled my dives for the week, told them why, and signed up with another operation. My guess is that they had already considered the possibility that some divers would be unhappy with this but that those who were unhappy would be outweighed by those who thought it was cool. Losing a customer like me was not that important from that point of view. What was more important was writing about the experience in social media so that others like me would not book with them from the start.

And because of your comment about this incident (in the past) I skipped over BID when booking my manta night dive recently. So now there is at least two of us

 

[mstevens]

This guy wasn't fired for molesting a toadfish. I think he was fired because he got caught doing it on social media. The title of this thread is highly apt - "...fired... after seen...".

He was working illegally in the Marine Park. Obviously the Playa-based dive shop knew he was working illegally, because they sent him there with some divers. Once the photo of him holding a toadfish was noticed on social media and he was tracked down, they probably had no alternative.

I don't feel sorry for him - that's a really blatant fish-fondling foto, and he seems to lack any awareness of what's appropriate no matter how much toadfish supposedly love to be tickled. I'm personally strongly in favor of the Marine Park's rules and shops that follow them, so I'm all for firing him simply because he didn't have a permit to lead dives in the park, or even because he was (since he says he wasn't leading the dive) diving in the Marine Park without a guide. However, if he'd just led the dive without petting the wildlife he'd still have a job leading illegal dives. I'm certain the Playa-based shop is still sending divers with unlicensed guides, just not that guy.

In terms of letting divers spear lionfish in the Marine Park, the issue is that there is a degree of skill required and care that must be taken due to where lionfish hang out. They're usually nestled in or up against sponges or corals. Shots that miss the fish go right into whatever is behind them. The specific lionfish tool (ELF Tool) approved by the Marine Park is kind of like a short sling. I have one for use outside the park. It's smaller than other spears or slings, but it's still somewhat clumsy to manage during a dive for someone who isn't accustomed to carrying one. Hardly any of us have Sallye Martin-level skills.

Yes, I know people will say they have extensive expertise spearfishing or whatever and should be allowed to use a spear (or ELF, if they have one) in the Marine Park. I've been on lots of dives with people who say they're divemasters, instructors, or whatever who make mind-bogglingly bad decisions and exhibit impressively poor diving skills. I don't think divers' self-reports of their abilities or skills can be relied upon nor do I believe their possession of a card is sufficient to know what their abilities really are. Besides, given the behavior that many here have seen on Cozumel dives, do we really trust that divers armed with ELF's, even if they have superb spearing skills, perfect buoyancy, etc. are really just going to spear lionfish?

There are thousands of divers on the reefs every day. It takes only a small fraction of them acting the way we know they will without constant supervision to have significant effect.

 

[ReefHound]

You have to be really bad to miss a lionfish. Keeping them on the spear is another issue, though. Stoning them takes skill.

I see it as a non-issue. I don't think there would be any significant problems if they opened it up to visitors but I also don't think there is any driving need to. Caymans has similar restrictions except dive ops can conduct lionfish training and offer lionfish dives under licensed supervision. That seems to be enough to satisfy the curious and limited enough to prevent any significant problems.

I spearfish and know a lot of people who do yet we wouldn't waste our time spearing lions in Coz. Too few and too small to be any fun and it would distract from what Coz has to offer most - beautiful reefs and reef fish. I'll spear in Florida where lions are 10x more plentiful and reef fish are 10x less. I'll video reefs in Coz.

 

[nodakdive]

This guy wasn't fired for molesting a toadfish. I think he was fired because he got caught doing it on social media. The title of this thread is highly apt - "...fired... after seen...".

He was working illegally in the Marine Park. Obviously the Playa-based dive shop knew he was working illegally, because they sent him there with some divers. Once the photo of him holding a toadfish was noticed on social media and he was tracked down, they probably had no alternative.

I don't feel sorry for him - that's a really blatant fish-fondling foto, and he seems to lack any awareness of what's appropriate no matter how much toadfish supposedly love to be tickled. I'm personally strongly in favor of the Marine Park's rules and shops that follow them, so I'm all for firing him simply because he didn't have a permit to lead dives in the park, or even because he was (since he says he wasn't leading the dive) diving in the Marine Park without a guide. However, if he'd just led the dive without petting the wildlife he'd still have a job leading illegal dives. I'm certain the Playa-based shop is still sending divers with unlicensed guides, just not that guy.

In terms of letting divers spear lionfish in the Marine Park, the issue is that there is a degree of skill required and care that must be taken due to where lionfish hang out. They're usually nestled in or up against sponges or corals. Shots that miss the fish go right into whatever is behind them. The specific lionfish tool (ELF Tool) approved by the Marine Park is kind of like a short sling. I have one for use outside the park. It's smaller than other spears or slings, but it's still somewhat clumsy to manage during a dive for someone who isn't accustomed to carrying one. Hardly any of us have Sallye Martin-level skills.

Yes, I know people will say they have extensive expertise spearfishing or whatever and should be allowed to use a spear (or ELF, if they have one) in the Marine Park. I've been on lots of dives with people who say they're divemasters, instructors, or whatever who make mind-bogglingly bad decisions and exhibit impressively poor diving skills. I don't think divers' self-reports of their abilities or skills can be relied upon nor do I believe their possession of a card is sufficient to know what their abilities really are. Besides, given the behavior that many here have seen on Cozumel dives, do we really trust that divers armed with ELF's, even if they have superb spearing skills, perfect buoyancy, etc. are really just going to spear lionfish?

There are thousands of divers on the reefs every day. It takes only a small fraction of them acting the way we know they will without constant supervision to have significant effect.

As I'm sure you have, I've seen a lot of impressive things out of your friend the DM. One was 3 big, fat, juicy lionfish at Maracaibo that lived to see another day because the current was a little switchy and there were some other considerations. There was a 99.999999% chance that he could have taken those fish and all his divers would have been absolutely fine, but that wasn't close enough to 100% for him to do it. Tourist diver with a spear in his/her hand? Who knows what could have happened. IMO, let the local pros do that job.

 

[morecowbells]

A couple of years ago my husband and I were diving in St. Croix. There was no marine park and basically no rules. We noticed the majority of divers carrying some type of spear/sling devise for lionfish hunting. I even thought to myself that it may be cool to try this activity later in our vacation. On our first dive at Cane Bay, we were nearing the wall(around 60 feet deep), when the reef sharks started 'drifting and gliding' by to check us out. I was photographing a pufferfish under a ledge when a reef shark darted by my side(no more drifting by to check me out, he was fast and determined), and made several close passes. I realized that it was my camera pole that perhaps looked like a spear. I ditched the pole after that dive! The sharks obviously associated divers with a food source. There are many reasons why I don't want fellow divers spearfishing(i.e. reef damage, separation of divers), but the main reason is that it creates a perfect scenario for an accident to happen. In the end, it will be the sharks and other predators who pay the price. I am elated to know that the marine park enforces the rule that only the DM can hunt the lionfish.

 

[gcarter]

It isn't just the sharks. On a trip to Roatan last fall, the DM on a dive brought his spear and caught a few lionfish. The moray that came after one of them - it was nearby when it was caught - was not playing around.

 

[CajunDiva]

Let's hope that all of these creatures will learn that divers don't have to be part of the plan at all - they can hunt the lionfish themselves!