poll -how many divers collect game ?

[Karl_in_Calif]

Soggy once bubbled...


Yeah...the lobsters don't make any noise when I drop them in a pot of boiling water but I'm pretty darn sure they don't like it.

How do you know? Maybe for them a boiling pot is just like a jacuzzi for us?

By the way, when I prepare fresh lobster, I first like to cleave them in half, with a huge cleaver, that chops through the carapace and all in one stroke. I am positive they dont feel that either, because they go limp right away.

That way, cleaved and cleaned, they cook faster, in about 60 seconds.

 

[Soggy]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
How do you know? Maybe for them a boiling pot is just like a jacuzzi for us?

Hehe...good point.

I don't really drop them in boiling water. I just drop them over boiling water.

 

[Spectre]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
How do you know? Maybe for them a boiling pot is just like a jacuzzi for us?

A friend of mine has spent the last 8 years studying the effect of temperature on the migratory habits of the american lobster.

Trust me... they don't like it.

In fact, a jacuzzi of boiling water wouldn't be any fun to us either.

My, untested, theory is that putting them in a bucket of fresh water and throwing it in the freezer would be much more humane...

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

Spectre once bubbled...


A friend of mine has spent the last 8 years studying the effect of temperature on the migratory habits of the american lobster.

Trust me... they don't like it.

In fact, a jacuzzi of boiling water wouldn't be any fun to us either.

Well then, that settles it, I will stick to my cleaver. Fast, honorable merciful death. Then we eat!

 

[Spectre]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
Well then, that settles it, I will stick to my cleaver. Fast, honorable merciful death. Then we eat!

I get nipped by their claws at least once a season. That's enough re-affirmation to keep throwing them in the steam pot. The one that nips me gets tossed into the pot of steam while it heats up.

 

[FredT]

MikeJacobs once bubbled...
Just as an FYI, to illustrate how one person's limits are different from another's, I remember resenting the Vietnamese refugees who used to collect urchins from the tidepools south of Los Angeles until they (the urchins) almost disappeared... and here in SE Florida - I may be mistaken but I don't think so - the urchins are the only natural control for filimentatious algie killing our reefs.

The filimentatious alge problem in south FL has happened at least once before. Roughly the '72-'74 time frame. Solution was an impressive increase in the sea hare population. As the large herds (>100 to thousands of individuals) of hares migrated over the reef the algae disappeared. A couple years later the sea hare population dropped to it's previous low density to again match it's food supply.

The long spined sea urchin, spider crabs, lobster and sea hares all provide an algae grooming function for the reef. Bug population crashed in '76 and still hasn't recoverd due to legal commercial overfishing. The urchin population crashed to less than 1% of it's previous density throughout the Carribean Basin due to a viral infection about 15 years ago. I still haven't seen many of those in the northern reaches of it's range.

Natural cyclic imballances in the sea often have long timelines. It's hard for those wih a short duration in the area to recognise some of them. Algae is a food source. Eventualy something will show up to eat it.

FT

 

[FredT]

SOUTH DEVON once bubbled...

How are you supposed to kill a fish humanely under the water ?

Follow the lateral line to the gill plate, place the knife crossways to the fish's spine (it's directly under the lateral line) and stab down with the blade angled forward about 45°. This severs the spine at the base of the skull.

Alternately on larger fish you can throat the fish by cutting through the fish just aft of the lower junction of the gills to the body. This cuts the main artery between the heart and gills providing the fish with O2, and bleeds them out in a matter of seconds.

QUOTE]SOUTH DEVON once bubbled...

I spent the rest of the dive trying to hide life from her including a very large lobster!
[/QUOTE]

Thus depriving that fine lady of a good meal, and indirectly killing the multiple juvenile lobster that big one will eat in the future.

QUOTE]SOUTH DEVON once bubbled...
Apparently another club member goes around ripping off spider crabs claws![/QUOTE]

Male spider crabs fight for females. Generally the winner gets "leverage" on the looser and breaks off a claw. When the looser sheds a claw the fight ends. The the crab will then go through two fairly rapid molts. The first time the crab molts he'll have a half size claw, then go through another molt to regain the full size claw. It'll take a bit longer to ger to full muscle mass inside the claw.

Properly done the crab will yield a claw at a natural part line with little damage to the crab besides removing his chance to get laid for a few months. This will have little or no impact on the crab population and is the most humane and eco-safe method of harvesting seafood. I have harvested a claw from the same crab several times, so I'm sure the theory is correct in fact. Be aware that I've seen a diver "slip" when doing this and get a gash that took 17 stitches to close. Don't get distracted!


Diver harvest of marine critters is THE LEAST impact on the other critters of any harvest technique. By-catch (death of non-targeted non-saleable species) in dredging and trawling operations are often 6X to 10X the weight of the targeted species. Even recreational fishing by hook and line will kill 2 or more fish to each one landed. When a diver kills, he kills what is wanted and ONLY what is wanted. I may bring home 200 pounds of fish after a day's huntiing, but I only killed those who came home with me. That is roughly 7 fish on a dood day. 4 red snapper, 1 cobia, 1 Amberjack, and a grouper.

FT

 

[dtcooney]

:doctor: As a chef who dives I can see how catching fish for the table could be a Good thing. On the other hand I've always maintained that I like everything about fish except the taste!! It should be left to Individual clubs and divers to regulate their own limits and any fish killed should be taken from the water. The original post in this thread was from an English diver, and the type of fish mentioned weren't all edible. Whereas divers in American waters who are blessed with a wider variety of edible fish and a culture more atuned towards hunting thier own food seem to have a little more respect for thier quarry! In Ireland Scuba divers aren't allowed carry Spear guns and are frowned upon for catching fish whilst diving. However there are no restrictions on free divers or snorkelers. No matter how many fish divers,free divers and snorkelers take from the sea they will never do as much damage to reefs and eco systems as comericial overfishing is doing. As a chef. I am constantly having suppliers deliver undersized cod,pollock,plaice and monkfish(anglerfish). If the comercial fisheries don't start paying closer attention to size limits there may be a lot less for us to see. Don't try to ban sport fishing, ban comercial fishing.

 

[fweber]

South Devon,
I can respect anyone that chooses to not eat meat for their own reasons. I do have a couple questions regard environmental impact though. Aren't you responsible for the burning of tremendous quantities of fossil fuel to get all these vegetables to Torquay? Unless, you eat only locally grown, organic produce. Can the Torquay climate produce sufficient quantities of this for it's inhabitants without resorting to heated green houses? Isn't it better on the environment as a whole if I walk down to the water and harvest a fish for dinner tonight, leaving the cleanings for the birds or crabs? Minimal impact, maximize the conversion to protein?
Just some thoughts. Adaptation to the local ecosystem is going to produce the most sustainable balance with minimal impact. If living in the mountains of Wyoming my diet should probably consist of Elk and preserved wild berries, if I wanted to live most in tune with the local ecology.
I say, enjoy your vegetarian diet, but do so knowing that in relieving your conscious in regards to killing other living creatures, you may be doing the environment they rely on more harm than good.
Fred

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

Soggy once bubbled...
the lobsters don't make any noise when I drop them in a pot of boiling water

Nice, the dungies out here squeal like little girls when you drop them into a boiling pot, not so much when you steam them.

Spectre once bubbled...
I get nipped by their claws at least once a season.

The divers out here squeal like little girls when they get ahold of me, ...er them, I meant.