Spearfishing with scuba

[MauiScubaSteve]

Did you read the thread?

 

[dogblues64]

Ok, here is my answer.. NO! Spear Fishing with Scuba should not be outlawed! Anyone can put on a mask, snorkel, and fins.. Buy a cheap spear gun and proceed to do some damage. I'm not saying that that is Freediving in general! To Scuba, first you have to be certified, and that means you've been instructed and probably have had some appreciation for aquatic life instilled in the process and would less likely to take more than what you need or are gonna eat! I have a pole spear and I snorkel all the time and now scuba dive, my spear has never seen a fish. I've even takin it in the water with me and didn't spear anything because they were all too small and one shark! I think that is being responsible and not just going down to kill something mentality!

 

[perdidochas]

I dislike spearfishing. With regular fishing you put them back relatively unharmed. Spearfishing usually does a lot of damage.

Spearfishermen only spear the fish they want to keep. Hence, there is no need to put unwanted fish back.

If somebody does hunt down and kill a fish, the least you can do is eat it. I've also once seen somebody spear a fish to death and then release it and go spear some more... Dislike that...

I agree. That's totally wrong when doing any kind of hunting. You need to eat (or utilize) what you kill (except for pests, like bugs)

 

[ONESPEED]

Reply to OneSpeed: Yes I eat fish. And you breathe my air.

Interesting, now you have a problem with me spearing in "your" ocean and breathing "your" air. Pretty posessive of the world around you, aren't you?

The reason I asked if you eat fish is because fish harvested by spearing, and this point has been made repeatedly in this thread, are the most selectively harvested fish available and I can't think of another method less detrimental to the marine environment. Where do the fish you eat come from Vicksburg?...oh right, your ocean.

 

[Wayward Son]

Hey Chip. You breathe his air & I'll eat his fish

 

[jkh36619]

Hello Everyone.

This is my 1st post and I do hate to put it in such a heated thread. But I would like to throw my $ .02 in.

The question the OP asked is: Is spearfishing on SCUBA sporting?

I'm not a spearfisherman, so I don' know.

My question is: Does it have to be sporting?

I have never won a trophy purchasing a tuna steak at the fishmarket. Thats not very sporting. If I had the choice to purchase a fish from the fishmarket possibly supporting an industry that is depleting the oceans with bycatch OR throwing a tank on my back and spearing a fish that I intend to eat, My choice would be simple. Though it may or may not be very sporting.

While I'm at it, I'd have to say thowing meat on a hook and dangling it above a wreck isn't very sporting either, but I do love to do it!

cheers all,

Jason

 

[cmburch]

This is not considered a heated discussion thread by SCUBABoard standards. Everyone has been considerably polite. The definition of Sport Fishing can vary by individual, but most states in the U.S. have very specific definitions. It is not necessarily winning any prizes. It may or may not be sustenance fishing in the United States. It is non commercial fishing in most states, usually requires a recreational fishing license, and has rules and regulations in each state.

As in any sport with rules and regulations there are those that like to use their own definition as to what is considered sporting with varying degrees on what is considered sporting by how hard it is or how much effort is used in the sport.

A spearfisherman may have a different image in the public's eye versus a H&L fisherman. For instance, a spearfisherman walking out of the water at a beach with a gun and stringer of fish may be viewed differently compared to the H&L fisherman with a fishing pole and a bucket of fish.

The public may need to be educated about how spearfishing is environmentally friendly. Some H&L fisherman, SCUBA divers and viewing public have personal opinions about spearfishing and try to apply their point of view on spearfishing as being bad or unsporting.

Communication and discussion is the means to educate people that spearfishing is one of the best forms of recreational sport fishing. And that spearfisherman fish by what is legal and tastes good (what they like to eat).

Some opinionated people want to classify spearfishermen differently especially sometime individual H&L fisherman and divers. Discussion and education is the best way to inform people.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Communication and discussion is the means to educate people that spearfishing is one of the best forms of recreational sport fishing. And that spearfisherman fish by what is legal and tastes good (what they like to eat). Some opinionated people want to classify spearfishermen differently especially sometime individual H&L fisherman and divers. Discussion and education is the best way to inform people.

I would contend that while there are some spearfishers who do it with selectivity, there is also a history of popular areas being depleted because the hunters refuse to accept the fact that the prey is not maintained in viable numbers. Denial of the fact that numbers are going down in places with little or no protected areas is what leads to near crashes of the popular game species.

For the most part it is the non-hunters who force protection while being fought tooth and nail by the hunting community. Then after numbers rise both in and near the protected area, the hunters reap the reward of the protection they opposed vehemently. There are plenty of hunters, both on land and in the water, who are not the selective intellectuals you paint the whole community as. Buba don't know what you talkin' 'bout!

 

[alcina]

I have never won a trophy purchasing a tuna steak at the fishmarket.

sidetrack

:azvatar: :wave-smil :azvatar:

I LOVE this

/sidetrack

 

[cmburch]

I would contend that while there are some spearfishers who do it with selectivity, there is also a history of popular areas being depleted because the hunters refuse to accept the fact that the prey is not maintained in viable numbers. Denial of the fact that numbers are going down in places with little or no protected areas is what leads to near crashes of the popular game species.

For the most part it is the non-hunters who force protection while being fought tooth and nail by the hunting community. Then after numbers rise both in and near the protected area, the hunters reap the reward of the protection they opposed vehemently. There are plenty of hunters, both on land and in the water, who are not the selective intellectuals you paint the whole community as. Buba don't know what you talkin' 'bout!

Improper management of a states resources by commercial and recreational interests has occurred and is still occurring. To place blame is good, to recognize the problem, research and develop corrective action to save these resources is better. All too often it may be too late to save an area or species, but in many cases through study and placing restrictions such as closures on fishing in certain areas and times (example closing down Ling Cod in Northern California during mating season season when fish come close to shore to lay eggs) the resource will be available for all to enjoy.

Our government is not the best when coming to an agreement that we have a problem and immediately putting restrictions into place to save our resources. Active individuals and groups as well as the general public have awaken the state governments into investing more time, money and research into protecting our environment. It may be slow and overdue, but many states are now actively protecting and making changes (California less than one month on specific fishing closures for H&L and many times continuing to allow spearfishing). It is easy to place blame and classify groups instead of individuals. A biased point of view may see all hunters as destroyers of our seas and does not notice that hunters are actually the ones that may have first discovered the problem and are active publicly sitting on the advisory committee working to save our resources. Hopefully all states will develop plans to determine and act in a rapid manner to save our resources.

There are exceptions to everything. To argue about individuals are not being selective to negate the concept that spearfishing is the best method of recreational sportfishing is not correct. State's rules and regulations attempt to correct these individuals to stop any type of illegal waste/killing of fish.