Spearfishing: Good or Bad?

[Bill McIntyre]

Gawdalmighty! Is this still being argued?

Just a couple of days ago a guy from Australia on Spearboard posted that spearing using scuba was cheating. For those who have already read this, forgive me for just cutting and pasting the same response, which follows:

Our most popular game fish in Southern California is the white sea bass shown in my avatar. I believe a very similar fish in Australia is called the mulloway. White sea bass are very sensitive to noise. The squeak made when you equalize the pressure in your ears can cause them to bolt, and so can a stray bubble coming out of your wet suit. The roar of bubbles from scuba gear makes it almost impossible to get near one. I dove on scuba here from 1975 until 1992 without spearing a single white sea bass. Now that I am back to freediving, I take them with some regularity.

Doesn't it follow that free diving is cheating? I'm sneaking up on the fish without fair warning. The only fair method would be to use scuba.

 

[GinoBlue]

And there in lies the HUNT! who said it was supposed to be easy? If spearfishing became easy I would quit.

sounds like needless risk and a great way to get killed. doesn't make it chalenging, just stupid. there is NOTHING ultimate about it.

to me it is disrespectful to the fish to use scuba. that being said if it;s legal, by all means go out and scuba hunt, it's your right. it is MY right and opinion to belive it to be unethical and unchallenging

I don’t know but I believe that you are contradicting your self here. You don’t want it to be easy and you don’t want to take risks either :hmm . Doesn’t sound to me like some one with much experience to share. In any case, I think there is no point of arguing with you since you sound very dogmatic about slamming Scuba speafishing regardless of being the only way in certain conditions. However, I would like to remind you that regardless how stupid you think it is, many experienced and professional spearos who actually practice what we are discussing here find fighting a big fish one-on-one very challenging and to them this is the hunt.

I caught my largest fish free diving, and in most cases the thrill is over once I knew I had a kill shot and that the fish will eventually get exhausted from the float. But when I shoot a reletivly large fish on scuba, the challenge and fun begins after the shot. So as for the respect part, what is so respectful about a big fish fighting a float? And what is so disrespectful about a scuba diver being man enough to fight a big fish till the strongest wins?

 

[Amphibious]

it has everything to do with the transportation method. lets say there is a fish @ 100ft. A freediver needs to have skill and physical fitness to dive that deep and safely harvest the fish. a scuba diver needs a tank. the challenge of getting down there is gone. as for the float, you still have a finite length of line and a single breath. you cannot get towed around underwater for any length of time. a scuba diver has far more options.

don't confuse challenge and risk taking. I can challenge myself with out putting my life in danger. there is a big difference.

this argument will only end when spearfishing does. I'll just keep hunting as a freediver and only with freedivers. others may go where they wish.

 

[Robbo66]

Huan, the fact I don't have more posts and hold a strong opinion on this subject precludes me from having an opinion eh??
I checked the thread you so kindly suggested and found that a guy had speared a fish the size of a small island at 425ft......he must be very proud, How can you possibly fail to hit something as sloth like and large as that, with air and dive partners.

Erik, excellent intelligent repsonse, exceptionally ' supportive and welcoming'. Real hero at 70m+ in a 2 knot current at the base of an oil rig...what do you press 500lbs + ??


Gino, what's the 'float' thing ?. Here we, dive, shoot and return to the surface with a fish on the leader. You mean to say you shoot, return to surface and wait for the fish to tire attached to a float..???. This gets worse.

Amphibious has it on the nail, 'tank heads' may indeed go where they wish, those who can spearfish, those who can't sucba.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Robbo- I feel left out. You specifically directed anwers to Erik and Gino, but not to me, so my feelings are hurt.

Do you think I'm lying about it being much harder to spear a white sea bass using scuba, or do you simply want to avoid addressing any evidence that you are not always correct about it being easier and unsporting to spear a fish using scuba?

 

[Erik]

. Real hero at 70m+ in a 2 knot current at the base of an oil rig...what do you press 500lbs + ??

.

Not me. Others who are braver than you and me, that you so blatently blanket without forethought or tolerance.
Erik Y.

 

[Huan]

Huan, the fact I don't have more posts and hold a strong opinion on this subject precludes me from having an opinion eh??
I checked the thread you so kindly suggested and found that a guy had speared a fish the size of a small island at 425ft......he must be very proud, How can you possibly fail to hit something as sloth like and large as that, with air and dive partners.

Erik, excellent intelligent repsonse, exceptionally ' supportive and welcoming'. Real hero at 70m+ in a 2 knot current at the base of an oil rig...what do you press 500lbs + ??


Gino, what's the 'float' thing ?. Here we, dive, shoot and return to the surface with a fish on the leader. You mean to say you shoot, return to surface and wait for the fish to tire attached to a float..???. This gets worse.

Amphibious has it on the nail, 'tank heads' may indeed go where they wish, those who can spearfish, those who can't sucba.

You are a Troll , and this last post proves it.
Not one answer or fact produced, Bill McIntyres entirely valid point overlooked/ignored.
I would have respect for your opinions if they were backed up with fact however you have only shown a tendency to cause friction so far.
Did you even bother to read the thread to its conclusion? Or did you just skim the first page and think what a load of shite?, This place is a good place for Information and it has nice people that are willing to help and discuss almost any topic that you want too, but bringing up this old argument is only trolling at this point.
Erik is right if you want to Troll and get better discussion on this topic go to spearboard and see what happens until then I will obey my inner master and post no more on this subject.
Goodbye.
* Yoda voice*Strong is the force in you huan , the dark side leave and move forward you must...

 

[Amphibious]

we all need a hug

 

[Erik]

we all need a hug

:friday
Salam siddiqi,
Erik Y.

 

[fuzz]

4 years later, this thread still goes on...

can't we agree to disagree & let this thread die in dignity?




*group hug*

 

[Murat]

Its good for me, but if its bad for you don't do it. I don't care at all...

What is the big deal here? I don't even got the point of the whole thread :duh :duh :duh :duh totally unnecessary rofl

 

[Alison]

What is the big deal here? I don't even got the point of the whole thread :duh :duh :duh :duh totally unnecessary rofl

Ah but you miss the point Murat! Its good bedtime reading, 3 or 4 posts of this one and I'm fast asleep zzz rofl
DULL AND BORING!!!

 

[Murat]

when we waste our energy for such unnecessary topics we are geting far away from the where the actually fun is.

Alison

when i need to sleep, i watch couple of spearfishing videos works great for me

 

[Erik]

My apologies for contributing to the stupidity. That's why it's called the INTARDNET !
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[seaman]

A month ago i went to the local game and fishing administration, and the guy who is in charge told me that spearfishing was actually banned. :ban I did download the Mexican Federal Fishing law (nom 017 1994) from the Sagarpa site and then i came back with the mentioned guy, he was ashamed and started to make excuses. What i want to stress here, is that in the core of the good-bad argument about spearfishing lies IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY. :duh Some day (i hope not) Spearfishing would be banned in the Sea of Cortez. All the people hate the Spearos. :waterwork I think in the collective mind of people, the face to face confrontation of the spearfisherman and the way the fish is killed it´s awful to them. they want more + civilizated´+ ways to kill and preserve life with death, as the commercial nets, and other non selective ways of fishing. The only solution is to organize and to unite. There is not ANY data or factic evidence about spearfishing as an enviromentaly agressive activity. In the essential reflexion about human interaction, Plato 2500 years ago, had stressed the point about the struggle between doxa (Belief or point of view) and Episteme (Verified Knowledge) PLEASE DONT LET THE IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY TAKE OUR SPORT OUT OF OUR HANDS

SPEAROS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!! :ko

 

[Robbo66]

Bill,
apologies for not addressing your point directly. I'm sure the bubbles emmited when using scuba do indeed scare the bass, but then I would have thought repeatedly rising to the surface and finning down when free diving would be equally as bad. We shoot Bass here, even resorting to mirrored lenses on the masks to avoid eye contact as even this can spook them.
I think we should drop the subject as both parties will never agree on this, particularly the junior element on the board, save to say that I believe it to be both unfair and unsporting, as shooting grouse with small artillery or salmon fishing with a 12v battery would be.

 

[Screen Name]

A month ago i went to the local game and fishing administration, and the guy who is in charge told me that spearfishing was actually banned. :ban I did download the Mexican Federal Fishing law (nom 017 1994) from the Sagarpa site and then i came back with the mentioned guy, he was ashamed and started to make excuses. What i want to stress here, is that in the core of the good-bad argument about spearfishing lies IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY. :duh Some day (i hope not) Spearfishing would be banned in the Sea of Cortez. All the people hate the Spearos. :waterwork I think in the collective mind of people, the face to face confrontation of the spearfisherman and the way the fish is killed it´s awful to them. they want more + civilizated´+ ways to kill and preserve life with death, as the commercial nets, and other non selective ways of fishing. The only solution is to organize and to unite. There is not ANY data or factic evidence about spearfishing as an enviromentaly agressive activity. In the essential reflexion about human interaction, Plato 2500 years ago, had stressed the point about the struggle between doxa (Belief or point of view) and Episteme (Verified Knowledge) PLEASE DONT LET THE IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY TAKE OUR SPORT OUT OF OUR HANDS

SPEAROS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!! :ko

Great observations seaman.

I will repeat my main point:

The biggest risk to spearfishing is this willingness to throw other spearfisherman under the bus. While making themselves feel special and self-righteous, dispositions like Robbos and Amphibious are used to take away our opportunities and give them to everyone else..........who catch more fish and do more harm than we could ever conceive of.

 

[Groupermadness]

It seems that this thread has out lasted itself but i do feel i should put the North Cyprus problem out as it is getting worse by the day.

Problem number one. :vangry The total uncontrolled sale of spearguns to kids without a licence, who subsequently with daddys money enter the water equiped to the gunwalls with the best kit, then in Groups of 3 or 4 patrol the coast and shoot whatever is there, coming out after a couple of hours with an array of undersized fish on the stringer and these groups do this almost every day on all excessable beaches. :rcard
The lack of policing of the cosastline to catch these Kids and maybe save the innercoast harbour areas the small fish need to grow is becoming an issue that needs to be taken up with the Authority but nobody wants to Know and the police are so few they dont have the manpower to carry out the control.

In my mind its not the real spearfisher that is a danger to the environment but the ignorance of the few that just do not care or Know what they are doing. These few are damaging not only to the environmental coastal fish numbers but the name of the spearfisher in General.

 

[Amphibious]

Great observations seaman.

I will repeat my main point:

The biggest risk to spearfishing is this willingness to throw other spearfisherman under the bus. While making themselves feel special and self-righteous, dispositions like Robbos and Amphibious are used to take away our opportunities and give them to everyone else..........who catch more fish and do more harm than we could ever conceive of.

right now you're the only one I'd like to toss under a bus

Self Righteous? pardon me but I have in no way tried to "take away our opportunities". I don't agree with it. I think it's cheating. if its legal in your area by all means do it. I don't agree with a lot of things, but I don't try to have them banned. :hmm

this thread has lost it's novelty. i'm done here.

 

[Screen Name]

right now you're the only one I'd like to toss under a bus

Self Righteous? pardon me but I have in no way tried to "take away our opportunities". I don't agree with it. I think it's cheating. if its legal in your area by all means do it. I don't agree with a lot of things, but I don't try to have them banned. :hmm

this thread has lost it's novelty. i'm done here.

Do you think hook and line is cheating? Longlines? Trawlers? Gigging? Electramate reels? Traps?

Just curious, because your self-righteous position seems to be that only freedive spearfishing is OK. :duh And your statements are the ones that these groups use to steal the resources.

You will never be able to throw me under a bus, because you are patently wrong. Maybe with good intentions, but wrong.