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Why not start a lively debate on the ethics of macho underwater hunters?....I thought.
I've just flicked thru the gallery on this forum and found 4 photos of a guy trumphantly holding up huge fish that he has presumably just killed!!!
Now....being that most divers are fish lovers and enjoy swimming amongst them, I find this quite perplexing. Dont get me wrong, I like a bit of fish for dinner too, but a smaller (more common)species would suffice. If I fancy a bit of chicken for supper I dont nip out into the Daintree rain forest and start blasting away at the biggest Cassowaries I can find...(and then post the pics on a birdwatching website)
The "Cod hole" dive site off cairns wouldnt be the same if these guys got their way. In the same way that free divers are a different sport, shouldnt these killers be on a game fishing forum displaying their trophies.
We tell novice divers not to touch anything and leave only bubbles but what if they fancy blasting a spike thru a 50 year old, tourist drawing napolean wrasse??
I've seen"sportsmen" dragging reef sharks out of dive sites in Thailand, when I'm guiding customers to a place where they might see their first shark!!!!
The fish has a more sporting chance being taken by a diver as opposed to being caught by a commercial fisherman, and most divers are a bit more selective about their targeted prey. Why not let them post here, afterall, they are divers just like everyone else on here. Perhaps we can even influence them in some way to see that taking smaller fish helps the population more than taking the monsters who are the prime breeders. As long as they are harvested legally with some respect for the population they were taken from, I say more power to them. Hell I even enjoy spearing up a nice dinner from time to time. Always remember, there is room for all of God's creatures...right next to the baked potato
Bama I fully agree, but any spear fisher that runs upon a monster will take their best shot. That's why I tend to go after lobsters. Since in CA we can only grab them, you can release them unharmed. Any bug over 7 lbs or so is tough, so I release them. Plus we are the only preadators of lage bugs because they don't fit into the traps.
Actually in California, you can use a hoop net to ensnare lobster while diving, you aren't limited to using just your hands.
California FISH AND GAME CODE
SECTION 7256
7256. Spiny lobster may not be taken under a sport fishing license
except by use of a hoop net or by hand.
Funny thing is, even the DFG wardens don't know their own laws and falsely tell people you can only take lobster by hand, but as usual, the government agents have no idea what they are talking about.
I think it should be allowed even though i disagree with some forms of spearing. I dont see the sport in going down on tanks and shooting the biggest fish you can but if your out catching a feed for dinner then its no different to line fishing expect you pick the one you want and get it not catch 10 and throw 9 back.
I fully agree with catch-to-eat, and I realise that spear-fishing is more selective than line or net.
Its the choice of target that I'm questioning, and that thr photos are posted on a SCUBA site. The biggest possible fish to be a trophy, rather than dinner. One of the photos in question has many fish, more than a good meal.
I'm sure that the shark-finners in Asia would say that they'd kill a whaleshark for a good meal (shark fin soup).
Or what about Japanese and Icelandic whaling? They're eating the meat, and claim to be selective... so that makes it ok?
I've seen more dead sharks in restaurants in Egypt than I have in 500+ dives there.....should they post photos of their shark trophies here too?
I just think the photos are bad taste (pardon the pun) for nature lovers.
It could be argued all day from both sides. I find the best solution to be if you dont like it dont look at it. It may be wrong to you to go spearing fish on scuba but maybe to them its wrong to dive wrecks. Each to his own.
Interesting worm can here . . . spear fishing is illegal in my locality, so it is not an issue we consider here. In fact, the only creature we are allowed to fish on scuba that I can think of is scallops. The commercial fisherman constantly blame divers for destroying this resource ... but in reality we witness the massive destruction of the ocean bottom by the scallop draggers while we hand pick a few leftovers along the edges of the drag marks. So I have to agree that freediving for fish with a spear probably has far less impact than a commercial operation. I believe very much in "no 'negative impact' diving". I'm sure those who posted the pics would be the first to comment on conservation and protecting the environment. After all they are divers too, and love what we love!
Should underwater hunters use this site????
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