Ethics of spearfishing competitions

[rigdvr]

are all spearos in the UK as bitchy as yall?

 

[Alison]

are all spearos in the UK as bitchy as yall?

PAH! I havent started yet!
Just rank amateurs so far rofl

 

[Kev]

Please note that whilst I disagree with your comment, that Ireland (as i am sure Paddythefrog and Huan, will tell you) is not part of the UK and that the channel Islands are only nominally part of the UK for defence reasons only. That said we can be very bitchy.

 

[Huan]

Rig
If you had people come and tell you what they thought you should be doing, I am sure that you wouldn't be long informing them of their mistake? Thats not bitchiness. It's called standing up for your rights.
and Kevs right Ireland isn't part of the UK any more.
I am happy just doing what I do (killing fish) to feed my family and I and if they try to stop me from doing that"They can prise the gun from my cold dead fingers"....

 

[Ben Gowland]

An interesting tale for you:

About 3 years back some friends and I went spearing at a popular dive site up here. We shot nothing. Some BSAC boys came in and 'tut-tutted' at us for being wankers and unsafe and that we shouldn't be spearfishing when there are scuba divers around. We were in the water first, mind....

That night one of the scubbies sent an email around all the BSAC clubs in scotland essentially telling them to treat anyone spearfishing as it they were scum. Most people laughed it off as some old school dickhead going off on a rant, but I replied anyway stating a few safety issues etc.

So - the attitude is still there, but you'll find that the old school BSAC people are the kind that denounce spearfishing as evil and dangerous whilst pocketing shellfish and flatties; whereas of course there are the vegitarian divers who you can't argue as easily with, since they aren't being hypocritical.

Ben

 

[portinfer]

just fullfilling stereo-types Rigdvr !

For us "native-English-speaking-types-in-western-europe" moaning is a popular past-time and some might say an art form in its own right.

I think that there seems to be a difference in attitude between american and european spearos - gross generalisation - but from viewing vids online (spearfishing ones...) I have noticed that there seems to be more of a gung-ho attitude to catching the biggest. Seems sad to see a Marlin cop it. Maybe that is my poetic sensibilities and they will say that it is no different from spearing a 4 pound bass.

But to me there is a difference - can't quantify it but think that I agree with Murat - food-fish for the table are what it is all about for me.

Pretty garbled argument I suppose but I battle with the ethics of putting something on the table and the desire to see fish happily swimming in their environment - sorry, obviously not red-bloooded enough !

(Guernsey was given England as part of the Duchy of Normandy in 1066.... never been revoked but the English won't listen. Terrible state of affairs, what.)

 

[Huan]

Getting back on topic , I would like to compete in the Jersey Open , Maybe not this year but I would like to go just to see the craic.
I imagine that it is a lot of fun and it wouldn't be too different to conditions from Ireland.
Maybe in a year or so when the baby is a bit older.
I haven't been in the water since October 9th according to the D3 !!

 

[paddythefrog]

sorry, I love a good rant

 

[rigdvr]

Rig
If you had people come and tell you what they thought you should be doing, I am sure that you wouldn't be long informing them of their mistake?

Happens all the time...even on here. Like when Euro hunters rant on and on about scuba spearing in the U.S.....not to drag that one up again :ko
I completely understand your reasoning but it seems like yall must be having bad weather or something because from reading this thread I can tell some of you need to get out and dive! rofl

If anyone should be bitching it should be me as I missed 3 shots on yf tuna between 150 and 180 on Tues :duh

As for the marlin thing you are wrong about US hunters...they are not even legal for us to spear...

Maybe yall should look into starting a lobbyist group to protect your rights. Self preservation requires a loud voice and a big stick these days and here we have an organization called the FRA that protects our rights to spear. They attend all the important meetings and make sure that spearos/anglers are heard before any silly laws get passed.

 

[rigdvr]

what do you mean getting back on topic? This thread has been dead for over a year and was about spearfishing comps and ethics not dates and tourney's

 

[Murat]

thanks Rig, you saved my time to read all four pages to remmember the topic. Hey wait i post in this thread but can not even remmember... rofl

 

[rigdvr]

.........................................................


:thankyou

 

[icarus pacific]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, but probably will have been.

Probably. rofl

 

[ajwaverider]

If anyone should be bitching it should be me as I missed 3 shots on yf tuna between 150 and 180 on Tues.

Missing three shots on a yellowfin is no cause for complaints compaired to not having the opportunity.Sounds like you need a new gun

 

[old dave]

Oh! yes you can they kill and eat plants which put breath back into the atmospere.

happy hunting old Dave

p.s probably wear skin i.e leather,therefor dumping flesh

 

[rigdvr]

Missing three shots on a yellowfin is no cause for complaints compaired to not having the opportunity.Sounds like you need a new gun

Definately not the guns fault...all mine. Not to get into the whole story but the water was blue the fish were huge(causing you to think they are smaller and closer...) and if you've ever swam with a yf tuna before you know they "swim without swimming" meaning they dont look like they are moving but are realy cruising at 20mph! Combine that with the 4-7 ft seas preventing a good breathup and causing me to puke in my snorkel and you can see it wasnt the guns fault(I was shooting a Wong Ono gun). WE did put one on the boat with a rod and reel that went 172# and I hit one bigger than that but the bad shot didnt last long. Dont even ask about the sharks.... :martial

 

[miles]

Hiya Kapitan Rig!!

Amazing how easy it is to mis-judge those big fish in that clean water!!! Wait 'till you aim for the head and see you spear land in the tail on a seemingly stationery fish!!! Luckily theres lots of muscle in the tail area, so even very bad shots hold well enough to land your fish!!!

Pity you didn't get to whack one!!! There's always next time!!!

Regards
miles

 

[edfitzfish]

Well, why don't you prepare some public publish then (may be international too)? About effects of spearfishing on marine reserves compare to the other commercial? I know this may seem bit aggressive towards the commercial fishers, but don't forget who is try to destroy the spearfishing hunting.May be compare to the line fisherman since they are the biggest opponent in the public eye.
Well its seems like war with other communities, and its true that we are the most little community among of these....But if they really want to bann the spearfishing, CMAS must do this soon or later....
And i don't think it is that easy to bann the spearfishing completely. May be only competitions...

there can be no comparison whatsoever to commercial fishermen. i believe that competitions are stupid, but that is my opinion. here in california, i don't think that spearfishing will ever be banned, it just doesn't have that great an impact. competitions, on the other hand, bring large numbers of people to one spot to shoot all the big fish they can, even within "the rules, " this kind of pressure is not good for any marine environment. don't kill the breeders, just what you can eat!

 

[icarus pacific]

You wanna run an apology for the idiot crack before I step in?

 

[paddythefrog]

thank god for the FRA, otherwise idiots like you would think for themselves.

Welcome to the forums! I'm sure you'll find lots of people as friendly as yourself here and fit right in! :hmm