Unfortunately, laws are enacted at different times and not in harmony with existing laws, so the criminal codes can be very difficult to understand. To look at the marlin question again, it is hard to know what the intent of this law actually was. Was it meant to make the recreational marlin sportfishery exclusive to anglers? Taken at its most severe, that would seem to be the intent, but it would be nice of them to say so.
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We aren't allowed to use hooked devices to help get them out of holes. Is a speargun with a flopper shaft a hooked device?
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Section 29.80(g) says that you are not allowed to
take crustaceans with anything other than your hands. Section 1.80 defines "take" as to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, kill, or attempt to do so. 29.80(g) forbids you to use anything other than your hands to
take, not just remove from their holes. 29.80(g) also states that you cannot
possess a hooked device while diving or attempting to dive for crustaceans, regardless of the intended usage of said device. I'm not sure which question the divers have been asking of the DFG people. My suggestion is that they isolate the issue and ask for a definition of 'hooked device'. (The definition may be in the complete Fish and Game Code. I'll look it up when I acquire a copy.) My guess is that it starts with "Anything that..." If so, you need to be very careful.
The intent of this law is obviously to prevent divers from using anything other than their hands to take crustaceans. With that in mind, it would be wise to avoid possessing anything that could be used to hook lobsters out of holes when diving or attempting to dive. The section is ambiguous on purpose, because there are countless devices that people could use for this.
Another good question, Bill. I'll do some more research on it and see if I can't get more of the spearos to weigh in.
