Specimen hunting... musing and discussion

[ickledevil]

Hey all,
As you know I have dived for a few years and recently had the best part of two years off.. I have come back to the sport having watched it from outside for two years. Guess you could say the watching has changed my perspective, changed me to an extent.
I am much happier in the water just enjoying the experience now than I ever was before and dare I say it just as happy to come home empty handed having had a scenery rich dive as I am coming home with dinner. (guess thats my entire dive season jinxed to be fishless now )
I suppose spearfishermen fall into categories like most hunters or normal fishermen. There are those that enjoy just being there and responsibly taking something for themselves. Those that go for the sport, with big bags of fish taken every trip and those that look for that once in a lifetime trophy.
I suppose there is also those that combine the last two taking more than necessary in a quest for a trophy.
It all sits a bit uneasily with me since my break from the sport, strange really as at times I could probably have been classed as being in one or more of the other categories at various points in my dive career.
So am I feeling bad for a reason, can a contingent of over hungry hunters or trophy chasers cause an issue for the rest of us.. are areas going to become barren, will we see less big bass.. will we attract unwanted media attention?
Who knows but I would be interested to hear others comments and thoughts, guess I am interested in others views and love a little debate so feel free to offer your thoughts on the subject...

For me seeing the occasional hog is great, and yes I would probably take one but if I ended up in a school of them or similar would I take as many as I could.. no sorry. I know where I sit and where my spearfishing 'morals' let me go but what about you?

 

[liam98]

great thread mate,
especially like the bit where you query whether areas will become barren, the thought has been crossing my mind recently as up in sussex we only have a limited number of areas to dive, i managed a dive this morning and there was heaps of pollack out. surrounded by them, and yes, i did take a few. At the moment i dont feel threatened by it becoming over fished, however myself and maybe 2 others are pretty much the only people that dive there and that's not very often to be honest. Anglers cant cast out there and boats cant get close enough because of the rocks. The conservation of the place really relies on spearos alone, we would be the only ones responsible if it did become empty of fish.
i do worry that if the spot became popular it could get overfished. i lived in australia for a few years not so long ago, and spearos out there in a lot of places are only just getting a half decent reputation again due to the near extinction of groupers, their docile nature and large size makes it an easy target. There is a fair few places where marine parks exist and spearing is illegal, but rod and reel is still acceptable. weve all heard the arguments about spearing being better for the environment as opposed to rod fishing, but that is only the case if spearos are well educated and disciplined and the last thing i would like to see is areas in the uk, like in oz, where spearing is banned purely on the fact that we've been irresponsible.
I believe you have every right to be concerned, for me, i just hope everyone is sensible about what they take, i have no problem with trophy hunters, as long as theyre sensible. But destroying schools of fish in the same area time and time again just because you can is something we all have to be careful of.