Ireland spearing 2008

[fcallagy]

Dan,
general consenus is pneumatic needs a license which may be hard to obtain depending on the gaurd in question that deals with licenseing. band may be a better option as it shouldn't cause any major hassle. See if you can try out different gear while your there to get an idea of what suits you and we will all expect a full trip report when you get back with pictures of the tuna.

[MadDan]

Originally Posted by togo

Hi Dan I'm french and have to say that you can find aswell rubber speargun wich i recommend to you avoiding licence matters and technical problems if you need to send it back. Best thing is to get a rubber one for a start with a extra wishbone and few things as you wont be able to find it in ireland.

best of luck

thanks togo
do you know of any names of spearguns in particular to look out for.
also any laws or guidelines to be followed around the french med.

dan

[MadDan]

Originally Posted by fcallagy

Dan,
general consenus is pneumatic needs a license which may be hard to obtain depending on the gaurd in question that deals with licenseing. band may be a better option as it shouldn't cause any major hassle. See if you can try out different gear while your there to get an idea of what suits you and we will all expect a full trip report when you get back with pictures of the tuna.

thanks fergus

yep thats the plan buy a cheap lilo, paddle out somewhere near the centre and tie some rocks to my legs to get me to the bottom fast, and then its just a simple a simple matter of waiting for the tuna to swim to me, stab him with a kitchen knife on the end of a stick and take it from there..

i will give a proper trip report when i get back, i already know the area it is full of fish, but im unsure of species and what sort of sizes they get to, ill need to do some research and ask some questions before i start before i end up in trouble with the law. the bay where the apartment complex is next door to a bay that is a protected area, so even if the spearfishing goes pearshaped i should see some nice stuff.

any ideas for a cheap waterproof camera, there was anice waterproof one in lidl 4 months back, i was so pissed off wheni missed it.

dan

[tels]

just back from salou in spain with a band gun thru belfast ...no probs ...got a pneumatic by mail order to derry last year no probs ...air guns need to be fully depressurised before loadin on a plane no permits for them in the north hope this helps

[phishfood]

Hi dan, ive gotta say i love my roballen gun. just if your lookin at different
makes. cant make a real comparison cos i only had a pole spear before but
you wil find plenty of people who really rate them.

handed in my thesis yesterday so was really itchin to get in the water.
headed out at a local mullet hotspot. vis was good once you dove down
a metre or two but did find it a bit patchy. it was bucketin down rain
which might have played a factor. left it 3hrs into the push, think this may
have been a mistake. not a mullet to be seen! did see a seatrout though.
first time ive seen one while spearing. had to control the itchy trigger finger
went home empty handed but great to be back in the water.

Feargus, did u get out last weekend? id say sunday was amazing?
Friends of mine were up at mullagmore and said the water looked crystal
il b in touch soon, now that i have a bit more free time b good to meet up

colin

[baldyfish]

any truth behind this? a person can fish up to 5 lobster pots without a licence and have a bag limit of 2. anybody shed some light on this subject?? What is the legality of someone fishing pots (4-5) with no licence?:c onfused:

[fcallagy]

Colin was out last saturday but the vis was poor and went back out Monday eve but didn,t get in as was a bit windy and wasn't too bothered. Should be out over the weekend either tomorrow sat and Mon eve at 7.30ish for training weather permitting if bad weather we may hit the pool and your welcome to either. Surf comp on sat in Strandhill so may take a look over there to see who turns up.

baldyfish i think you have to have either buy or apply for tonnage to fish lobster. I know a guy who fishes a few pots but only to keep his hand in. not too sure on the legality but it would be a different ball game if someone was selling them on. if it was primarily for private use just lobster on the table I cant see why it would be illegal. i dont think there is any catch limit on lobsters but could be wrong. there used to be the V notch system in operation where a fisherman could claim for a notch i think but its phased out now afaik. Huan is usually well up on the fisheries legality as i think its somewhat related to his area so to speak but haven,t seen him i a while, family must be keeping him busy.

[Huan]

Originally Posted by baldyfish

any truth behind this? a person can fish up to 5 lobster pots without a licence and have a bag limit of 2. anybody shed some light on this subject?? What is the legality of someone fishing pots (4-5) with no licence?:c onfused:

Baldy

As the law stands there is nothing stopping you from setting and retrieving as many pots as you want for RECREATIONAL purposes.
Needless to say any attempt to try and sell lobsters will be ill advised, there is a heavy enforcement presence going on ATM.
You would be well advised to have the legal minimum size well studied as well.
Also V-notched female fish should not be taken.
So fish away, but just be aware that the local pot boats may not take kindly to some one coming in and fishing their area.
It is not unknown to go out and find that your gear has gone missing......
just my 0.02c

[themosb]

Hello guys
hello feargus
hello nikita

i am coming to N.Ireland on the 6th of August for spearfishing
staying at county Antrim Carnlough 'till the 26th and planning to go down south to Kerry for 5 days around the 10th anyone who's interesting to come spearfishing with me and get to know the Mediterranean way of fishing send a message


have a nice summer themos
feargus come east to carnlough if its possible i would like to see you

[baldyfish]

Originally Posted by Huan

Baldy

As the law stands there is nothing stopping you from setting and retrieving as many pots as you want for RECREATIONAL purposes.
Needless to say any attempt to try and sell lobsters will be ill advised, there is a heavy enforcement presence going on ATM.
You would be well advised to have the legal minimum size well studied as well.
Also V-notched female fish should not be taken.
So fish away, but just be aware that the local pot boats may not take kindly to some one coming in and fishing their area.
It is not unknown to go out and find that your gear has gone missing......
just my 0.02c

Thanks Huan. thats helpful. have 4 pots but only set them in summer for a few weeks and take only what i will eat. its great to see how much life is on the bottom and opens up more places to freedive too.

[garett]

Originally Posted by abusingelves

which brings me to another point. perhaps we should look into organising an association for irish spearfishermen/women/people, or see if we could join the BSA, just in case that we did have to start looking for licences.
any thoughts on the matter?

Hi to all. Was reading this new thread and discovered posts regarding regulations. 2 years ago when I’ve restarted spearfishing (after few years of break) in Ireland I tried to find any regulations. To do not waist time and to get most accurate information I’ve decided to contact Fisheries board directly. First answer on question if there is any regulations in Ireland was “…spearfishing is illegal here…” I wasn’t happy with that answer and I sent them few pages letter where I explained why I think it’s not illegal + other stuff. They changed their opinion, not much but in the next letter they said that it’s not illegal, it just because of lack of interest this kind of activity has to official rules or regulations. Also they said that they can create rules if I can collect sufficient amount of names who are interested. Same time I’ve contacted London spearfishing club and asked them for advice. We had long enough but nice conversation (they were really supportive buy the way) and they mentioned that they think that it’s not so easy to get those regulations without any risk to do not get some problems. They mentioned that they think it will be better to leave everything as it is. What I actually did that time. But after reading this new thread I've understood that at some stage we will need those regulations any way, about everything including guns. Some spearos live in country side where just seals can watch them, but others have to … not to hide, but not to flash with gun when they getting into water. I nkow examles when people called Garda and man had to leave gun underwater... Let’ think about all of us if we think that there is some kind of community here. Maybe even we need to vote to make right decision regarding this? If we decide to try to get those regulations I have a name of a person from Fisheries board who was quiet friendly and supportive to me before and we could ask him what we can expect in those regulations + any other questions. If somebody else from this board has personal contacts with Fisheries he could scan situation as well. Any opinions?

[sunfish]

The fisheries board are not in charge of lawmaking in any capacity.They can however apply influence to any changes being made in the law. Any input they have will probably be used to make spearfishing illegal.
As things stand it isn't illegal and never has been. I say it's best not to start messing with this subject. Regardless of how harmless spearfishing may be, it's disliked by scuba divers, anglers, and commercial fishermen and there are way more of those than there are of us. If we start getting the law changed it'll almost certainly go against us.
Anyone heard the saying "Let sleeping dogs lie." ???
We're already fighting off changes from the EEC fisheries board. Surely we don't want another lot of problems.

[fcallagy]

hi themos,
glad to see your back in green water or soon will be I will try to get up to you one of the days if your there till the 26th I should be able to sort something.

[fcallagy]

kind of agree with sunfish on this one i know there is an arguement for for taking action before we are forced into it but lets see what way the eu changes pan out first imho.

[Huan]

In my opinion it is not worth trying to get licenses.
If you go down the road of trying to get legislation for spearfishing then IMO you are asking for trouble.

As it stands bar fishing for Trout and Salmon and the 2 bass limit/closed season then there are no restrictions on spearfishing in the state.
What is the total catch for spearos in Ireland at the present time?
If I said that there was 2 ton caught per year it would be a major overestimation IMO.
That amount of fish even of it was 4 ton would not be worth legislating for.

The fact is that if you asked 50 different gardai what the regulations are on spearing then you will get 50 different answers.
There are much bigger things happening than a few pollock being taken.
If the guards are called and a person is spearfishing legally then there can be no problem.
as long as there is no pneumatic speargun and no salmonids/freshwater fish then no case exists.
You would think that Firearms would be a clear example of legislation but across the whole country there are many cases of laws being used in different ways.
Spearfishing is not anywhere near as popular as shooting and what would probably happen is that a law would be passed that made spearing illegal and spearguns also.
With one swoop of a pen there is no more problem.

Would anyone in any position of power be worried?
How many votes will be lost?
What spearfishing industry would be affected?

Salmon driftnetting was banned because of pressure from the Angling fraternity and it had a lot bigger impact on the rural economy then spearfishing.

Be very careful what you wish for.

my 2c