What's wrong with spearfishing?

[wreckchick]

I know for a fact that before I put a gun in my hand I was sure I was going to be baggging snapper limits all day. Things change when you realize that they aren't really just sitting there like you thought they were. Do you really know WHICH snapper it is? They're also not as big, neither are the grouper you see all the time. Can you really look in a hole only to see some fish lips and know for a fact it's a legal grouper? Might be legal size, but for which species? That 20" black is just as illegal as the 19" red as the 400# jewfish. You only have a second or two to decide whether or not to pull the trigger and then the fish is GONE.

The only fish that volunteer for the table are Hogfish, bless their tiny, stupid souls. Again, hard to know what 12" looks like your first time out. The first time I pulled the trigger on a hog it measured out at 17" because I was terrified to shoot a small fish.

I do way more dives and come up empty than ones that return a stringer. It's mostly because I suck and I only see good fish when I don't have my gun. Ask anyone, that's how it goes

R

 

[Chad Carney]

Many fishermen under or above the water fish for trophy fish.

It's only natural to challenge yourself against the smartest and strongest of prey.

If you have never looked you would be surprised at the young age of many of the breeding stock in fisheries, and more importantly it's population.

It's often not the old bulls that are the most efficient, truth is they are often over the hill. There is a huge myth perceived that only a few giant fish have lines of fertile females constantly passing by.

Chad

 

[Chad Carney]

The only fish that volunteer for the table are Hogfish, bless their tiny, stupid souls. Again, hard to know what 12" looks like your first time out. The first time I pulled the trigger on a hog it measured out at 17" because I was terrified to shoot a small fish.
R

R,

It's a good thing almost nobody catches them on hook and line!

C

 

[Hank49]

When you start hunting them, their behavior changes.

So true. There was a thread started here once where a photographer was talking about how the fish always seemed to dart away just as he/she was focusing the camera on the subject. He went from observer to predatory behavior. Fish are around their predators all the time and sense the hunter or hungry. They know a large snapper, jack or barracuda on the prowl vs one just passing time....until the next feeding time. This is one of the tricks in spearing....act like you don't see or care about the fish you want to shoot. You can see the snappers and especially Nassau groupers side eyeing you watching for your next move.

 

[Sideband]

I also believe that that spearfishing is not fair - too easy to kill the fishes.

Have you ever tried it to have a basis for your opinion?

Joe

 

[TwoBitTxn]

The only problem I see is that in a lot of fish populations the most prolific spawners are the very large, most mature fish, and those are the very ones that some spearfishers go after.

This is another popular arguement from those who oppose spearing. Take some time to learn about aquatic biology, and you will learn that this isn't necessarily true. Many species of game fish change sexes as imbalances are created and in some species (grouper) your largest fish are male.

TwoBit

 

[Charlie99]

This is another popular arguement from those who oppose spearing. Take some time to learn about aquatic biology, and you will learn that this isn't necessarily true. Many species of game fish change sexes as imbalances are created and in some species (grouper) your largest fish are male.

I am quite aware of the sex life of parrotfish and other successive hermaphrodites.

For other species, where the most profilic spawners are the largest ones, it can easily be taken into account by having not only minimum, but also maximum size limits. Indeed, although spearing of lobsters isn't allowed in Mass., in the Mass. Gulf of Maine zone there is both a min and a maximum size limit for lobsters.

BTW, I'm NOT against spearfishing, and a few weeks ago thoroughly enjoyed watching Biscuit7 approach a hogfish so closely I was beginning to wonder whether she was going to pull the trigger, or just jab the fish with her speargun.

 

[wreckchick]

Stalking is half the fun! The other half being dinner, of course.

R

 

[wreckchick]

There are slot limits on some fish, like Snook, where they start as males and turn into females. This protects the larger fish/females and gives anglers a chance the catch the middle-sized ones.

By the way, big fish don't get big by being stupid, especially if it's a hunted species. Big black grouper are spooky as all heck down here in legal take zones because they've been shot at before. Go to any of the sanctuary areas and the monsters will swim right up to you and check you out.

R

 

[matts1w]

If all you ever dive are areas such as Pennekamp and other scuba parks/popular dive sites than you have a slightly skewed idea about fish behavior. The grouper on Molasses Reef in Key Largo act VERY different then the grouper 40 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. The protected areas and heavily dove sites are full of fish that are very used to divers. The "wild" fish bug out and hole up very quickly. I am often amazed at how small a hole a large fish can vanish into.

As pointed out earlier the hogfish is a different story, but I think they are depressed and suicidal. Luckily they are almost never caught on hook and line as they would be extinct by now as they taste so darn good.