Spear Fishing Buddy

[jaymal]

Over the weekend I dove with an "instabuddy" I kind of met online. Well a couple divers agreed to go diving at a local site an hour before high tide.

I don't spearfish. Maybe I will in a year or so once I get comfortable identifying fish below water. My dive buddy brought his spear gun. Well a three prong spear with surgical tubing. I assume he has a fishing license.

During the dive I mostly stuck my head in holes and looked around like I always do. For me just seeing the wildlife is exciting enough at the moment--especially now I can name a few of them.

I did see my dive buddy catch a couple of fish but didn't look too closely at the species. The Viz was 2 to 5 feet most of the time. I did watch him catch a lingcod.

At the surface I took a look at his fish. 2 juvenile cabezon, 1 small brown or kelp rock fish (I think) and a lingcod which turns out to be 2 inches short than the requirement--if the lingcod season was open.

So by my count at the surface where I was more easily able to identify the fish 3 of the 4 fish he caught were illegal--based on me later looking them up in the California Fish and Game regulations.

Now, I wasn't fishing. Didn't intend on fishing but did "assist" by holding the guys spear a couple of times while he put his fish in the bag. I had assumed incorrectly that if the guy is fishing, he knows how to properly identify the fish and knows if they are legal or not.

My question is this: Would I by guilty by association if the Game Warden happened to have come by and inspected my "buddies" catch? If I am able to identify the fish before he actually spears them through the head (which I wasn't) is there a sign for "you idiot, don't catch these."?

And no, I doubt I will be diving with him again. At least not when he is spearfishing.

Thanks!

 

[SDE Dennis]

I believe the law states who is in possession, so just don't hold the catch bag on the surface. I spearfish, but I always make sure the fish is bigger than the size limit due to them looking larger than actual size. Some spear fisherman are so gun ho they shoot anything and everything. I have more of a respect for their life and only take a few and always eat what I catch. I also don't usually shoot fish when diving with divers not hunting unles I know them well and they don't mind.

Hope this helps

Dennis

 

[SlowRain]

It has been MANY years...but when I was in law enforcement in Washington...it was who was in possession unless it could be shown you were an active participant in the facilitation of it. Penalties in WA were VERY stiff both in terms of fines and up to things like losing all your gear, including your boat. Usually those severe acts were reserved for gillnetters taking salmon at the runs...but under the law it could include divers taking game out of season.

I did see more than one party go to court and have the confiscation of their boat, trailer, and all their gear upheld by a judge.

 

[garrett58]

hi jay
i would have told the guy off. as yyou probably know there are not a lot of fish left in the area. so to be shooting shorts and illegals is major bad.i hope he actually ate the fish and did not just let them go to waste. he would have gotten a very large fine if the rangers had checked him. you would not have gotten in trouble if he admitted they were his fish. if he tried that on one of the dive boats he would have had a big problem when he got back to the boat.

if you need a dive partner sometimes e mail me at garrett58@charter.net

 

[seaducer]

One of the reasons I do not like spearfishing is that if you shoot a short, you can't just let it go, though it sounds as though your friend doesn't care. I have a friend like that and at times it has strained our relationship.

As for your question, as long as you are not in possesion of the fish it is not your problem. Unless you are somehow responsible for him, i.e. he is your child.

 

[jaymal]

Thanks for the comments and I will certainly look you up Garrett. The guy really isn't my friend...I would have to look his name up to remember it. He claimed it was his first time spearfishing or first time in a while. Maybe true maybe not. When I identified the fish back on the surface he appeared surprised and upset that what he caught were not Rock Fish. I didn't chew the guy out (cause I didn't know the regulations) but I wasn't especially happy at the end of the dive. Especially when I looked up the regulations that evening.

I will likely start requesting anybody I don't know to not spearfish with me. Especially in some of the local spots.

 

[diver918]

I will likely start requesting anybody I don't know to not spearfish with me. Especially in some of the local spots.

that is probably your best bet....glad you didnt run into any kind of trouble...