Spearfishing with a rebreather

[greeniguana]

I’ve done the same on scuba. Hardly definitive evidence. Spearing snook is not legal, so they have no reason to fear divers. A lot of Hogfish are real dumb and get real close.

Ok. I'm not here to argue, boss. I have lots of photos that you'd never be able to get on OC.

 

[justinthedeeps]

So we can almost pet the fish, join the school, the giant trevally comes right at you, etc

Should we spear them on CCR or SCUBA? I would say only away from popular wrecks and reefs. I don't see anyone shooting deer and eagles in the local community parks anymore, amen to that. Maybe out in the proper woods during season.

Certainly dive spearing happens (including on rebreathers I imagine) in Washington as there is a ton of fish and habitat. But not in the local dive parks, you could get fined or saltwater in your gas tank for that.

CCR seems risky, a worthwhile fish could be big enough to pull a diver deeper or shallower. On CCR that could dangerously affect loop volume and ppO2, distract from ppO2 monitoring, task load away from running the unit. If it's small prey I gotta ask why even (unless it's invasives control)

 

[justinthedeeps]

I always thought RB divers were prohibited from spearfishing because of their advantage in not making any noise/bubbles. Perhaps I'm just wrong.

OC spearos must outnumber rebreathers, and there is plenty of competition over the last remaining fish.. like when the Canadian fishing union takes too many fish and then blames the sea lions (or sharks in the tropics?)

I am guessing there are just too many OC spearos in Florida to shut down or zone-restrict SCUBA spearing as well, even though it could potentially exponentially increase fish numbers on easily accessed reefs and wrecks.

 

[justinthedeeps]

Whatever you do, don't take the last fish on a reef or more than half of them

Year one: (1 fish -> 2 young) - 2 taken = 1 fish left
Year two: (1 fish -> 2 young) - 2 taken = 1 fish left
Year three: (1 fish -> 2 young) - 2 taken = 1 fish left
Year four: (1 fish -> 2 young) - 3 taken = yay got the last one fire up the grill
Year five: 0 fish

Year one: (1 fish -> 2 young) - no take = 3 fish left
Year two: (3 fish -> 6 young) - no take = 9 fish left
Year three: (9 fish -> 18 young) - no take = 27 fish left
Year four: (27 fish -> 54 young) - 21 taken = 60 fish left
Year five: (60 fish -> 120 young) - 50 taken = 130 fisheries management basics

 

[greeniguana]

Spearfishing is an infinitesimally small impact on reef fisheries, specially in FL.

 

[Johnoly]

I am guessing there are just too many OC spearos in Florida to shut down or zone-restrict SCUBA spearing as well, even though it could potentially exponentially increase fish numbers on easily accessed reefs and wrecks.

You are guessing..............
There are 1.5 million recreational saltwater licenses sold in fiscal year 19/20 (cite=Saltwater Fishing )
There are thousands of rod & reel fishermen compared to even 1 spearo. There are only 2200 saltwater spearfishers in florida from the last Blue wild market survey. When we do modeling on catch limits & fish populations with SEDAR, spearo's don't even make a blip on the graphs. It's just too small a group to have even a ripple in the ocean.

 

[Johnoly]

I always thought RB divers were prohibited from spearfishing because of their advantage in not making any noise/bubbles.

Then the lawmakers would outlaw 'Freediving Spearfishing"

Lawmakers don't want dead bodies and that's why they are outlawed.

 

[Belzelbub]

Should we spear them on CCR or SCUBA? I would say only away from popular wrecks and reefs.

I tend to stay away from the popular/more public reefs and wrecks in favor of some that are a little more secluded. But, that should be my choice. Who do you think should have access to the popular wrecks and reefs?

BTW, one of the spots I like to hit is quite close to one of the artificial reefs in the area. It's quite funny really. It's not uncommon to see 10 or more boats on this spot. Meanwhile, I'm just a bit away and I have a large natural bottom area to myself. I'll occasionally see one other boat in the same vicinity, but that's about it.

OC spearos must outnumber rebreathers, and there is plenty of competition over the last remaining fish.. like when the Canadian fishing union takes too many fish and then blames the sea lions (or sharks in the tropics?)

Sure, OC spearos do probably outnumber rebreathers, but I'm not sure what the rest of this has to do with anything.

I am guessing there are just too many OC spearos in Florida to shut down or zone-restrict SCUBA spearing as well, even though it could potentially exponentially increase fish numbers on easily accessed reefs and wrecks.

Not even close. Lots of fishing licenses sold in Florida. A tiny fraction of those are for spearfishing. The vast majority are used primarily for hook and line fishing. That's the group that has the most pull with the lawmakers. Oh, and there are areas that are zone-restricted already. Collier county used to be a no-spearing area. I think that has shifted recently as I no longer see it listed. However portions of Volusia county and Monroe county are no-spearing. Hook and line fishing is often fine in these areas, but not spearing.

I wish spearfishing had the clout that you seem to think it does.

 

[The Chairman]

I am not questioning the fairness of this activity and not even considering it for myself but would like to learn if it's possible and what is involved. Thanks.

Think of the massive CO₂ hits you'd expose yourself to. Holy headache, spearman! That's a hard, hard pass from me.

 

[Ndfishee]

Have a friend who works as a game warden, seeing how confusing the rules for hunting/fishing is but utilizing a rebreather he says is not illegal for fishing all they care about is size/quantity of catch compared to where your hunting at and time of year