Scuba spearfishing allowed in the US?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Here in California the open season for spearfishing (scuba and freediving) and fishing hook and line from shore is year around, while they close hook and line fishing off a boat certain times during the year.
All the bag limits are the same but there are several species that are closed to spearing like Salmon and most fresh water species.
There are also species of marine life closed to scuba while being open for freediving like abalone, puget sound king crabs, and a few other things.
I guess the reason for partial closures to fishing off a boat and not for diving is that it gives groundfish a break in deeper water.
They also instituted depth limits on hook and line from boat to reduce the damage to banned species by pulling them up from depth since there is no control over what bites.
DFG knows there are way fewer divers and shore fishermen and their impact is much less than boat hook and line fishing so they preserved our priviledge to go out and get a meal.

Also, I don't see what the big deal is whether you scuba spearfish or freedive spearfish, a limit is a limit. I do both and I only take what I know I can eat. I actually see it the other way around, freedive spearfishermen tend to be much more competitive and tend to shoot more fish just to prove they can. I never see any spearfishing contests for scuba but you see them all the time for freedivers, and the takes are enormous.
I personally know a freediver who goes out and kills everything in sight but doesn't eat any of it. His reasoning is that it is "his right".
I don't know of one scuba diver that does that.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Here in California the open season for spearfishing (scuba and freediving) and fishing hook and line from shore is year around, while they close hook and line fishing off a boat certain times during the year.
All the bag limits are the same but there are several species that are closed to spearing like Salmon and most fresh water species.
There are also species of marine life closed to scuba while being open for freediving like abalone, puget sound king crabs, and a few other things.
I guess the reason for partial closures to fishing off a boat and not for diving is that it gives groundfish a break in deeper water.
They also instituted depth limits on hook and line from boat to reduce the damage to banned species by pulling them up from depth since there is no control over what bites.
DFG knows there are way fewer divers and shore fishermen and their impact is much less than boat hook and line fishing so they preserved our priviledge to go out and get a meal.

Also, I don't see what the big deal is whether you scuba spearfish or freedive spearfish, a limit is a limit. I do both and I only take what I know I can eat. I actually see it the other way around, freedive spearfishermen tend to be much more competitive and tend to shoot more fish just to prove they can. I never see any spearfishing contests for scuba but you see them all the time for freedivers, and the takes are enormous.
I personally know a freediver who goes out and kills everything in sight but doesn't eat any of it. His reasoning is that it is "his right".
I don't know of one scuba diver that does that.

I don't know any diver that does that and I know a lot of scuba and freedivers.

Are you saying the guy just discards his fish after shooting them? If so, the guy is an idiot, the type of gear he uses to express his idiocy is irrelevant..

 

[kelemvor]

Yeah, that's pretty crazy. I guess it's like hunters who shoot something for fun and leave the dead animal to rot. It produces an id10t error.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I don't know any diver that does that and I know a lot of scuba and freedivers.

Are you saying the guy just discards his fish after shooting them? If so, the guy is an idiot, the type of gear he uses to express his idiocy is irrelevant..

I know a lot of scuba and freedivers too and he's the only one I know who does this.
I don't think he throws them away, there's actually a law against that even though it is somewhat vague and would be difficult to biuld a case and get a conviction. He would have to be caught in the act.
I believe he just gives them away. He better not be selling them!
But still, to go out and rape and pilage like he does to supply someone else? let them go out and get their own.
I don't have much respect for him nor do too many other divers around here. People reading this from my area know who I'm talking about.