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sea scallops hmm must have hunted all those delicious land scallops to extinction lol interesting topic they actually did a D.N.A test at sushi restaurants and fish monger's here in vancouver and over half of the fish claiming to be of certain species turned out to be something else entirely even illegal species disguised as others never know what your going to get unless the heads on or you kill it yourself
The same test was conducted in the UK on supermarket processed meat products. Results were shocking.
They found that corned beef was in fact dyed sea wrasse.
France, Spain & Italy.....
Most of the bass caught in the winter breeding grounds go straight to France, offloaded direct from the trawlers.
Good question re. where are all the bass going (seen remarkably few this year -- same story from OMD I read this afternoon). I was going to suggest restaurants but have noticed many/most seem to prefer to serve undersized plate-size whole bass -- presumably farmed as they'd be below even UK minimum landing size.
A packet of chewing gum is worth more than a bass in the economy of a big market...QUOTE]
Wild Sea Bass flavoured chewing gum!!! Its the new garlic bread....
Its the future :martial
My fiancé was working a couple of weekends ago, so I decided to take the opportunity to go for a dive and get some fresh fish straight from the source.
Whilst I was lurking in the kelp at my chosen spot I was surrounded by 45cm, 2 to 3lb fish from several species, which would have made an excellent meal for one, when I saw a massive bass. It must have been at least 17lbs, as it was significantly bigger than my 14lb personal best.
With Robbo66’s mantra of “only shoot big fish” firmly implanted in my mind, I nailed that massive, egg laden fish straight through the face and left the water triumphant, before going home, cutting off a 2lb fillet and throwing the rest away. After that I got straight on the internet and badmouthed a load of beginners who’d taken legal fish which provided an appropriate amount of food for their needs.
The above is fiction, except for my 14lb personal best which was served to 20 people at a friend’s birthday BBQ the evening it was caught, but it seems to be the definition of ‘best practice’ by several vocal contributors to this site and the instigator of this particular thread.
I dive and spearfish for several reasons:
• The ability to be selective regarding my catch.
• The challenge.
• A dislike for commercial fishing practices (not to be confused with a dislike of commercial fishermen, who act within the laws and regulations of their industry).
• The chance to view the marvel of marine life in its own environment.
I think that my first point (which is probably the most widely sited ‘plus point’ for spearfishing) is the most pertinent to the views apparently “held by many”, but seemingly only voiced by a minority on this site. The ability and opportunity to be selective regarding catch seems to be translated by this minority into “The ability to only catch the biggest fish you see, and anything less is not only a travesty of the spearfishing code, but also provides ammunition for environmentalists and other assorted hippies to get our sport banned”.
My personal viewpoint is, that whilst no authoritative and conclusive study exists into the optimum size of fish to take in order to cause minimum disruption (or, perhaps, advantage) to the rest of the local species (of the papers that I have read, opinion seems divided as to whether fewer large fish provide better breeding opportunities than many smaller ones, these studies have been based on statistical analysis, biological theory and a mixture of the two, and all make certain stated concessions to reach a conclusion), it is the duty of every spearfishermen and women to only take from the sea what they need. Taking a fish larger than you require is perhaps actually worse in ecological terms than one that is 1mm under the legal size (landing undersize fish is illegal and not condoned by me, however, nor is taking more than you require as it is likely more morally wrong to waste any food provided by the life of an animal).
The debate, if there is one to be had, is surely what the best course of action is if you have 6 people to feed: 1 big fish, 3 smaller ones, or a trip to Tesco (as, lets face it, the fish are already there, and your actions won’t solely undermine the international fishing industry to the point of collapse)?
The bullying and lambasting of what have patronisingly referred to as “junior” members of this forum, is not a method through which to educate and encourage the honing of skills, the consideration of what is considered ‘best practice’, nor is it going to improve the image of spearfishing within the wider community. The perpetrators of such actions should be truly ashamed of themselves, as they have added absolutely nothing to the assembled body of knowledge and seem to have forgotten all too quickly that they did not start out spearfishing knowing everything they do now (or perhaps, more worryingly, they would likely claim to have not learned anything from this site during their membership!).
By making the vast experience of members of this forum less accessible to new spearfishermen through continuing to create a culture in which people are afraid to ask questions or seek advice, because they worry about being branded irresponsible or ridiculed for not breaking species records, I believe we actually risk inadvertently increasing the number of people who would “damage the image” of spearfishing due to them not having access to the truly valuable resource of a well managed, balanced and informative forum. I personally have learnt a huge amount, and met many people, through this forum over the last 5 years and believe it to be one of the most sensibly moderated and best online forums that I read and contribute to.
I’ve been spearfishing for a few years now and have had several opportunities to put across my motivations regarding selective fishing to people who have confronted me over my “cruel” practices. In the majority of cases I believe viewpoints were altered and people left with a more informed and balanced view of spearfishing. In none of these cases did I feel the need to harangue the person regarding the potential hypocrisy of their wearing of leather shoes or buying farmed meat when they felt unable or unwilling to dispatch a creature for their own consumption.
I’m interested to find out what is accepted by the previously mentioned “majority” as an appropriate minimum size for Bass, and what this theory is based on? 10% over the minimum legal size, because that is what is most common at your favourite spot, or perhaps 50 centimetres or more, because you like the number 50? You tell me. Spearfishing is always going to be largely self regulating, within the law prescribed by your country, so in order to get something positive out of this otherwise totally pointless thread, we should perhaps discuss a voluntary code of conduct that satisfies the true majority of members of this site, which could then be used as a basis for forming opinions of the activates of others, if that is what interests you.
A couple of my personal suggestions are:
• Never take undersized fish. In the case of accidentally landing an illegal fish, ensure that it is not wasted and you learn a lesson from the experience.
• Never take more than you need, both in terms of number of fish or size.
• Don’t make a habit of “fishing for the freezer”, just dive again next weekend as it always tastes better fresh.
• If you want to show off your catch either online or to passers-by, put it into perspective, i.e. “a pair of 3lb bass caught for a dinner party with 4 attendees that evening” must be better representative of spearfishing than “a 100lb thresher shark as it was there and massive”.
• Be constructive in your criticism of others if you feel they have gone against the nature of the ‘sport’, and ensure you offer structured advice for improvement.
Failing that, we could always start a “W**ker of the Month” thread I suppose.
In your suggestions, when you say about not taking more than you need, do you mean like having a 'shopping list' not to exceed, before you get in the water?
trouble is, i can go several weeks without seeing a bass, then see several in one dive; should i still only take 1 if i apply your code?
interesting ideas.