Marlin on a polespear

[Phantom Menace]

DumpsterDivers video of polespearing in the Bahamas got me thinking of the first (and only?) marlin taken on a polespear. The guy who did it is a polespear guru who specifically set up the spear to do it and went out with a plan to achieve it. I have met him a couple of times (he is friends of friends I guess) and know a couple of the other people who were on the boat (including Rochelle who did the filming and has a world record marlin to her name)

Here is a video - doesn't show the actual shot.
[video]https://youtu.be/48qDpdWFWFg[/video]

 

[divad]

Is marlin tasty?

 

[Phantom Menace]

Is marlin tasty?

Yes it is

 

[Freewillow]

Nothing to be proud of

 

[Phantom Menace]

Do you eat fish? Or farmed meat?

 

[Freewillow]

Do you eat fish? Or farmed meat?

Yes I do, and in fact I Spearfished one or 2 fishes for food. But I would never video tape such a sad scene. Just a matter of respect.

 

[Phantom Menace]

It is a fish that was shot and dealt with as quickly as practical. It was then processed and eaten.

Yes, it is large - but does that make it sad scene?

What in particular makes it sad scene? (I am not trying to be difficult but am looking to understand your perspective).

 

[danvolker]

I tend to agree that this is not something to brag about....the fish is an apex predator....the health of the marine ecosystem is reliant largely on the apex predators doing their job to keep the trophic levels below them in proper balance....one of the quickest ways for important fisheries to collapse, is to allow Shark fishing to decimate shark populations--we already know this causes trophic collapses under them.
I don't know that the marlin are exactly as critical as shark populations, but I would be expect that they are critical enough that "TROPHY HUNTERS" SHOULD NOT be killing them.

If the concept of Trophic collapse and the critical nature of the apex predators is alien to you....See either :

• Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth | Coral Magazine ( review of Paper "Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth".....I have the pdf of the paper, if anyone wants it. It is exactly on point. No easy way to post a 6 page pdf here.
• Possibly the best way to gain your initial exposure to Trophic Collapse, is this video: https://vimeo.com/86466357 "How Wolves change rivers"...it answers this issue in an amazing way.

** If this was not a "look at me on youtube and what a great hunter I am"..trophy video...then why has'nt this guy and the OP been posting videos of their daily trip to the store to buy fish for supper? Both are the act of gathering food for the table. No question that spearfishing is the most ecologically responsible means to harvest fish for the table--WHEN the hunter is responsible about what they shoot. shooting apex predators in not responsible....and Glorifying the killing of an apex predator just seems wrong.

I have been within 10 feet of a huge black marlin much like this one, on a deco stop in 300 feet of water of Fort Pierce....the marlin approached--and then stopped and considered us for almost a minute...you could see the brains on the other side of the huge eyes....this was a smart fish....this was a fish we need more to be doing his job in the ecosystem, than to do his job as someone's trophy on Youtube.

 

[Freewillow]

I hope that Danvolker's answer gave you an explanation. He said it better than I could. Regards.

 

[Phantom Menace]

Cheers folks. That is the sort of logic I was after (although I haven't read the info yet a quick browse has been good).

FYI, here in NZ marlin cannot be caught commercially however a small amount is sold that has been caught in other countries EEZs.