So you want to be an underwater hunter?

[JohnAC]

Just read the article “So you want to be an underwater hunter?” in the October issue of Socal Diving News. Good article with some good suggestions for the would-be hunter. This would include me.

I have gone spear fishing 3 times.
1. Front side of Catalina 08 - Limited on Sheephead.
2. Ship Rock 09 - 3 Calico’s, 1 Sheephead.
3. Refugio 09 – 4 Perch.

My limited observation has been that being a sea hunter in today’s eco sensitive world is view by many like being a cannibal at a vegetarian retreat.

Glares at the sight of your spear gun, comments like one I recently received after bragging to my buddy about my catch. “That’s like shooting the family dog isn’t it!” But man, I like spear fishing! I like bringing fish home for the fam!

I will confess that I have been taken back by the lack of fish in many of the places we have dived. And I have seen over the years a drastic decline in the catch that is taken off sport fishing boats, both in size and numbers. And this does concern me.

This article made me think about what and where I should allow myself to hunt.

I think I may limit my hunting to areas that are off the beaten path off most dive charters, i.e. the front side of anywhere.

These places I think I will reserve for capturing photos of the wonders of the deep.

You guy’s who hunt, what do you think? Do you hunt just with other hunters? Do you limit where and what you hunt?

 

[marcin.a]

Well... I just bought my first speargun yesterday. I started 'collecting' food when diving two years ago when we moved to Norway. Crabs, scallops, flatfish... and such. Except lobsters. Lobsters are behind my personal line because they are almost gone (not mentioning it is illegal here to collect them when diving). I never 'collected' anything before when diving in Australia.
Anyway, my personal opinion is that if one really needs to eat fresh seafood spearfishing and manual collecting are much better approaches than angling, netting and whatever else people do. I dive my area at lest once a week year around. I know when the spawning season happens and can see how abundant given species is.
And what I can not understand at all and consider it to be barbarian cruelty is the catch and release 'sport' fishing. Buying from a fishmonger can not be such an eco-friendly idea either: One day I found a fish I've never seen before. It turned out to be Orange roughy. The specimen I ate was at least 60 years old. And the population around Australia is down to 10%. No thanks.
Or...am I just looking for excuses to explain my stone-age barbarian practices?

 

[james croft]

If the good Lord did not want us to eat animals he would not have made them out of meat.

I bet the diver that made the comment about shooting the family dog enjoys eating seafood at a restaurant or at home that was caught in a net with a lot of by-catch. I also am understanding that some divers on a dive charter may not like seeing other divers spear fish. I spearfish and am sensitive to this. I ask ahead of time if spearfishing is allowed or if anybody objects if I spearfish. Usually I will spearfish well away from other divers and am not in their face with it.

I prefer to spearfish on boats with other divers who are all after fish as I have felt the stares of non-spearo types. I only take what I can use and obey the game laws. I eat what I kill and don't waste it.

I once invited a couple of other divers for some fresh fried grouper who I felt did not like my polespear on a boat but they sure did not mind eating what I harvested. One of them became interested in spearfishing a short time later.

For the money I spend divng off of boats it is nice to bring back some fresh seafood to offset the cost of diving.

 

[scubazachary]

what does more damage to the eco system my shooting my 3 or 4 fish or a commercial trawler draging clean the sea floor, and only keeping 50%

 

[JohnAC]

If the good Lord did not want us to eat animals he would not have made them out of meat.

I bet the diver that made the comment about shooting the family dog enjoys eating seafood at a restaurant or at home that was caught in a net with a lot of by-catch. I also am understanding that some divers on a dive charter may not like seeing other divers spear fish. I spearfish and am sensitive to this. I ask ahead of time if spearfishing is allowed or if anybody objects if I spearfish. Usually I will spearfish well away from other divers and am not in their face with it.

I prefer to spearfish on boats with other divers who are all after fish as I have felt the stares of non-spearo types. I only take what I can use and obey the game laws. I eat what I kill and don't waste it.

I once invited a couple of other divers for some fresh fried grouper who I felt did not like my polespear on a boat but they sure did not mind eating what I harvested. One of them became interested in spearfishing a short time later.

For the money I spend divng off of boats it is nice to bring back some fresh seafood to offset the cost of diving.

He had a point about that particular kind of fish. Sheephead are critical to the reef environment out here I'm told, so I will be avoiding them in the future.

 

[JohnAC]

what does more damage to the eco system my shooting my 3 or 4 fish or a commercial trawler draging clean the sea floor, and only keeping 50%

There is no way to even come close to that, even with all the spearo's of the world combined.

 

[marcin.a]

Apropos, do you guys hunt just to get the food or for the thrill, or both? I am asking as I have a few friends who do angling because they... just like it. They don't even eat the fish.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Fishing with a hook and line often allows the fisherman to practice catch and release. Responsible spearfisherman have respect for the sport and also the fish and will only shoot a fish that will be eaten. We do not shoot fish "for fun" or target practice.

We have the ability to carefully select the individual fish we wish to take and there is very little waste compared to hook and line fishing where undesirable fish (due to size or species) must be released. However all too often the act of line fishing injuries the fish fatally or makes the fish particularly vunerable to predators, even if released relatively unharmed.


We successfully "release" our unwanted fish by not shooting them or harming them in any way.

 

[mathauck0814]

Interesting post. While I don't participate in spearfishing (mostly due to the fact that local law prohibits the spearfishing of all the good local fish) I do have a recreational lobstering license. Even the act of taking a (live) lobster off the seafloor completely unharmed can draw the ire of fellow boat-mates on a charter. What's interesting is that it seems to be an educational issue - these people feel that the lobster that they eat in a restaurant or grill during summer BBQ's is farm raised or somehow more 'humanely' handled than it is when a diver takes it from a hole.

Nevermind the fact that they just dove/swam over a dozen lobster traps on the chartered dive.

 

[JohnAC]

Apropos, do you guys hunt just to get the food or for the thrill, or both? I am asking as I have a few friends who do angling because they... just like it. They don't even eat the fish.

I hunt for both!