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Spearing On Scuba

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Yea its better to keep it friendly. When the topic is too hot (i don`t know if this is the exact word to use in english but anyway)its pretty normal.
 
Originally posted by narked
It's stuff that I personally wouldn't do. Providing you're not breaking any laws and sticking to limits, I'm happy.

Then why should it be outlawed?

Anyway, being a diver who spears on both scuba and free Id have to say in some locales scuba has absolutely no place(I would never spear on scuba on reefs in the keys for ex.)but hunting amberjack on a rig in 400 ft of water...if you ever have you will know what I'm talking about.

My biggest concern however is this lack of foresight...if we have divers pro banning spearing in any form, how long do you think it will be before its all banned? We had a recent thread about being more united for the preservation of our sport but if we beat ourselves up who's left to fight the "green machine"? Damn this sport becomes more of a sitting duck everyday it seems.:( :( :(
 
Just a quick pointer, read the posts properly and understand them (especially make note of who posted it). It wasn't me that said it should be outlawed, it was sturgeon ;)

Safe diving, and good eyesight and memory,
Matt

P.S I have also noticed that 7 people have given me negative karma due to my opinions on this matter. I have made it clear that those are MY feelings about what I would and wouldn't do. I haven't said any of you are wrong, nor have I said any of you should be stopped spearing with scuba gear. This says to me that some of you are single minded and fo not welcome other people's opinions, even when it is a standard I only wish to impose upon myself. Personally I see the karma system as being there for either saying someone has made a damn good point (or been very helpful) or is quite clearly in the wrong. There is only one person I have give negative karma to since I joined this forum, and it is not anyone that has participated in this thread (and there are no prizes for anyone who can guess who the negative karma went to). I have however dished out plenty of positive karma thanks to the helpful and kind replies from the majority of people here.
 
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Narked...that was my bad, wrong name but I think you accidentally hit the sarcasm key on your keyboard?

As for this swimming around all day on scuba notion...a tank doesnt last 10 min at 150 ft. Scuba has its own dangers such as the rate of your accent...each is a skill
 
Karma! ! !

Personally i never attack someone with my replies, on the other hand i always tried to a helpfull and friendly. But i also has the negative karma.I don`t uderstand why.But as i said before in KARMA thread.I don`t care.I always say my opinions.Of course it might be wrong or correct but never ever involved offense.Thats it its me. Who cares it? I know myself and its enpugh for me.
 
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Yeah sorry about that, I rely too much on sarcasm in real life, need to kick that habit into touch really. If I get too sarcastic for people's likes again, just let me know.

Well it depends what sort of kit you dive with. Many of the people I dive with use twin 12 litres, with the occasional person on twin 15s, which DO give you plenty of time.

Keep safe,
Matt
 
I learned this in Rehab

Originally posted by narked
i don't need experience to believe that, and once I have actually tried this thing, it won't change my opinion.
I have no problems with the opinions of you guys, providing it's not blatantly wrong or stupid.
Matt


One of the great gifts we have is the opportunity to learn, be it by spoken or written word or practice. To not allow that learning is the fall to ignorance.


sven
 
I do not WISH to try scuba spearfishing. I see no reason for ME to try it. It's simply part of who I am. And that does not make me ignorant. Again, maybe I'm wrong, but that reply was perhaps somewhat unsuitable now that I have made it clear that those are my personal values, and that I do not wish to try spearfishing with scuba.

Let's just face it now, I don't believe the same things that you do, you don't believe the same things I do, and nothing either one of us can say will change that. Get that out of the way, and let's get the hostilities and implied ignorance out of here.

Nothing I have said in this thread has been ignorant. My original post was probably not clear enough, but I have since clarified my views. I have made it clear numerous times that these are views I impose only upon myself, yet people still seem to insist to try to change this.

Can't we just shift back to being friendly and not even slightly abusive or whatever?

Don't worry be happy,
Matt
 
Hey, change your pad!

It's a saying Matt.
Like you said earlier, read the post. I it in rehab.:hmm


sven
 
It may well be a saying, but by including it in your post, it's saying it yourself. It's still implying that I either am or am on my way to ignorance simply because of these "restrictions" I have placed upon my self.
BTW, what's that last sentence about? Doesn't make any sense to me ;)

Murat: Personally I'm not that bothered about karma, but I fail to see why people decide to give negative karma to me based upon what I myself wouldn't do. If I was actually telling them not to do it, or saying that it is wrong, I could understand it. Maybe one of those people could clear this up for me, would be a great help, as I would be able to learn from the "mistake/s" that I made. And if for some reason you're worried I might be angry, no problems, I just want to know. Telling me my opinions are wrong or stupid (which I believe would be a more appropriate thing if it has caused you to give negative karma), then back it up. Better to learn from your mistakes then to make them again and annoy more people.

Be safe,
Matt
 
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``Telling me my opinions are wrong or stupid (which I believe would be a more appropriate thing if it has caused you to give negative karma), then back it up. Better to learn from your mistakes then to make them again and annoy more people. ``

Right dude be safe too;)
 
I think you guys are taking Sven out of context....read the post one more time.:duh
 
Guys , my intentions on starting this thread was to learn from those who spear on scuba what their various reasons for doing so are rather than getting everyone embroiled in a pro/con conflict .
Thanks Jay for your response viz. small / deep /dirty ledges in strong currents .
Rig , can you tell me more about the factors that would make hunting amberjack off deep rigs on freedive impractical ?:confused:
Don , do people seriously hunt on Trimix ?...rofl Would have thought they had enough to occupy them just concentrating on their profiles .
Any more examples would be appreciated .
Peace ...;)
 
"I just like to shoot fish" -jay styron
... jay's from north carolina where you gotta trek out halfway accross the atlantic to get to fish. so for the fact that we have an opposable thumb and we posses the skills and tools to facilitate our desire to spearfish, what's wrong with putting on a tank. you won't see jay pulling any cubandvr stunts. this guy's top notch and you'd have to guzzle gallon after gallon of karma to break within a fraction of his humility.

"as long as it's allowed by the local authorities, it's all good" -sven
... so we don't have the greatest minds in the law making industry. :confused: but, the fish and wildlife management has apparently brought back severel species to incredible #'s. they're doing something right, so as the laws permit, go get dinner. :p if you've got a crappy governing body, write your congressman or political exec and speak up.

"It's about hunting, catching your own food, not simply enjoying the actual killing of the creature" -narked
... let's make sure we add a "personal opinion" statement before flaming other's opinions. if this was just for the killing of fish, why would we put barbs on our spears? :confused: i take pride in a nice shot that's well placed. a quick demise keeps the sharks away. every spearo knows that once you pull that trigger, you've just taken yourself off the top of the food chain. narked, try to practice your salutations if you're going to add them to your post.

"I wish spearing on SCUBA was outlawed in the USA ... That way if conditions are tough... the fish get a break and live a little longer" -sturgeon
...scott, that's hard to swallow from someone who's shooting fish every weekend. also, i know you drop on wrecks, so why is that less devastating than someone dropping over ledges w/ tanks? :confused: hey, the pga is letting Casey Martin ride in a golf cart, but you don't see him tearing up the tourneys. ;) all in all, i think we freedivers do just as much damage as the scuba divers.

"In my area they go to the rigs and shoot the hell out of snapper, amberjack, and ling." -donmoore
... yeah, this is hard to swallow sometimes, but is this any worse than people who linefish? not sure about that area. :confused:

"But there is also other class ``divers???`` using scuba to shoot all of the moving things." -murat
... this is one of the groups that gives all of us a bad rep. but, you have to remember that most spearos ride up a steep learning curve. you'll see that more experienced spearos coming back with fewer fish, but with better quality ones. this goes for both scuba and breatholders(majority :confused: ).


i think this thread should(as abri pointed out) be focused more on the technicalities of scuba spearfishing, not whether or not it's an ethical thing to do. open another thread if you guys want to discuss that. just don't be surprised at how fast it gets yanked when amuck is rampent. ;)

dale suave, compadres,
anderson
 
Thanks Andrsn . What I want to know (among other things) is eg. the kind of dive profiles they follow . Do you dive down ; spear a fish ; take it to the surface and go down again ? Would imagine a dive computer is essential .
I would assume most of us prefer spearing apnea , simply want to know what circumstances some spearo's consider as no-go for apnea .
If my initial comment/inquiry was misleading I apologise to all concerned ...please bear in mind I am an English fourth - language African savage ...rofl
 
hi Abri and boys

This turned into a bit of an aggressive thread, maybe us boys who think spearing on scuba is wrong should think of it this way. I dont care if people are hunting on Scuba to me Im getting an advantage hunting on breathold. First my freedive ability is getting better, and second I have an advantage on those really shy species such as Green Job fish where absolute stealth and no noise is required.

Oh Abri can you confirm this I remember reading another thread where you said the deepest you have speared fish is 41m thats like 133ft or something do you have gills dude. I dont think theres too many people here who hunt at that depth you want to let me in on the secret.

cheers
 
Yea as i said before Abri is a great freediver and hunter.The secret is simple.Concantration,practice,knowledge and years of experiance.:cool:
 
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Hi Andrew ; no big secret ... was training for S>A.freediving nationals 2000 back home in Sodwana . I was doing a couple of 45 m. bounces with just a surface spotter , and due to the Johnnie factor I was dragging a gun and line/float up and down with me . As I turned on this particular dive two king mackerel pulled up beside me . Without really realizing what I was doing I whacked one of them ; let go of the gun and bailed for the surface cursing myself and mumbling " I won't do it again , please just let me get back ; I PROMISE I won't do it again !"rofl
I would call 30 to 35 m. a comfortable working depth , anything beyond that is hard work ... nice Jobfish down there though :D
 
Lobsters?

I was wondering what the story is with the rock lobsters that the guys pull on scuba. you are also allowed to use a stick and a net, correct?
that seems a bit too easy compared to our legislation. which is, gloves and breathhold only and you arent allowed to catch rock lobster off a boat.
but then i have not idea about the other diving conditions. the crays here sit from the shoreline to about 20+m. they usually sit just inside their holes, and catching them depends on firstly, getting a quick enough grap before they shoot down the hole, risking getting jabbed by their many thorns, or shaking them loose from the back of their hole, if it isnt too deep.
how deep and far offshore do they catch lobster in florida, for example?

Mark

ps. mind you, seeing the size some of the lobster gets to, maybe the tanks are for in case you become the hunted, for example, heres a pic i found on the web
 

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I do dive and shoot fish almost every weekend, that's why I said earlier that only shooting fish while freediving makes me feel better about it. Even though I probably put a good amount of pressure on the system locally, there are plenty of fish in plenty of areas that I don't impact. I can only hunt efficiently up to about 75 ft, so all the fish beyond that depth are free from me and my speargun. If for some reason there were no more fish left in my divable depths, I certainly would never put a tank on my back to be able to dive deeper to kill them. As Matt has pointed out, my personal conviction of not shooting fish while on SCUBA is a moral issue within myself. But unlike him I have shot fish on SCUBA. When I first moved to FL, I worked as a DiveMaster here in WPB for a year and shot fish on SCUBA every weekend. Within one year I tired of it. It became way too easy for me and I started to feel bad about doing it. I became ashamed of what I was doing. But because I still loved the ocean and the thrill of spearfishing, I found another avenue to pursue my passion (freedive spearfishing). This way I still get to spear fish but it's not so easy anymore and there are plenty of days that I don't even get to pull the trigger. It makes me happy deep in my soul when a fish is too smart for me to kill, it doesn't make me want to put on a tank and chase him to the ends of the ocean.

As far as my opinion of outlawing SCUBA spearfishing here in the USA, that's still my opinion. Hopefully, I'm still allowed to have that on this Forum. Right or wrong, the thought of SCUBA spearfishing pains my heart and sickens my stomach, I don't care about a divided front.

Scott Turgeon
 
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