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The Circle of Life

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bluecape

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2003
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I have mentioned in a seperate thread ( What is a good spearo) that even though I love the challenge and lifestyle of spearfishing, I do not feel good about shooting fish. I have been having some successful hunting lately, but because of this negative thing for me about the killing, I have thought a lot about it, and have come up with my own answers which I would like to share on the forum.

I call it my 'Circle of Life' approach.

In the Elton John hit song, Circle of Life, there are the words.."Never take more than you give..."

From those words, I base my approach which I'm sure many spearo's will find quite strange, but it has certainly made me feel a lot better about my sport.

For each fish I shoot, or for the time spent hunting, I am trying to give back in equal and in more proportion. This weekend, I shot 4 fish, which were used for food, and yesterday, I went back into the sea without a gun, just a wetsuit, mask and fins, and some sardine-food. I spent time feeding the fish, (even some BIG ones which would have been definate targets) and it felt great. Knowing the fish were going to me attracted to me and food, I went alone, not allowing any spearo's to come along, and for a short period of time, I gave something back.

I probably makes no difference in the grand scheme of things, but it makes a difference to how I feel about my hunting, and I will continue to hunt to the 'circle of life' theory...never taking more than I give.

Best regards

Jeff



;)
 
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Hey Jeff,

Don't put too much stock in anything associated with the lion king. Besides the 'small' errors, such as Amazon leaf-cutter ants living on the Serengeti, good ol' Simba decided to return to his homeland to breed his sisters, aunts, and mother. Bayr-na-nayr-na-nayr-na-nayr-na-nayr.....:D

Disney's perversion aside, I think that your heart is in a very good place. I also do not take without giving; although I do not give in such a direct way as feeding the fish. Rather, I help from research/restoration angle. A lot of folks ask me,"how can you, a biologist, and be o.k. with spearfishing". The answer is that I am a conservationist, not a goofball tree-h...:mute ....anyway, a conservationist ;). I do my part to make sure what is here now, will be here for my decendants. I will not over-hunt any water, and never harvest spawning fish. The research I do for the university is a federally funded program designed specifically to understand long-term effects and dynamics of inland lakes. The data I collect is used by biologists world-wide to help restore and preserve lakes in their communities. That's gotta make up for sticking a few crappies ;).

But you don't have to help even this directly. I offer donations to many types of ecological orgainizations from the Sierra Clubs, to our states endangered species programs....even give to the 'save the sharks' foundations. You don't have to be on the front lines. Supply trucks are just as important to the 'war effort'.

I don't do all this to 'justify' the fish I spear. I do it because it is the right thing to do. And it carries into every aspect of my life. When I breathe my last breath, I want to know that I did it right - but had fun doing it.

When all is said and done, my +'s are going to tower over my -'s. That's what counts....not how much barking you do on the podium.

Ted
 
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Hey Ted

Never take too much stock with anything associated with any movie !! They are all designed to cause emotion me thinks !

Anyway, thanks for the reply, I guess each spearo has his / her way of putting something back, but it's top of the mind with me at the moment with the sport being new to me. It's no surprise that the hunters are, in general, more aware of, and in many cases, involved in, marine conservation to a large extent.

happy hunting

Jeff
 
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Jeff and Ted

As one of those "goofball tree-h... :mute...." types, I reckon you two are very much on the right track.

It sounds like you are both doing your bit to keep things balanced in an age that is very much unbalanced. It's so easy to just take and to keep taking, so I admire your efforts to give something back.

Spearfishing has been the target of some very harsh criticism from what I understand. From my non spearo point of view, attitudes and actions like yours will go a long way to keeping the sport going in the long term.

Cheers

Ash
 
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Nice thoughts guys...

I will tell something that makes you feel better.

Since humankind is omnivore (eats both plant & meat), we or someone else will hunt those fish for food.
The only important thing is to be conservative about our prey and environment.If we eat meat/fish in a restaurant or burger, chicken vs....Hunting my "Food" by myself should not bother me...

Actually eating my own prey makes me feel better coz that way i don't support some of commercial butchers....

But you guy's thoughts about giving back is just one step further of it....:cool:

Keep it up;)
 
Originally posted by bluecape
For each fish I shoot, or for the time spent hunting, I am trying to give back in equal and in more proportion. This weekend, I shot 4 fish, which were used for food, and yesterday, I went back into the sea without a gun, just a wetsuit, mask and fins, and some sardine-food. I spent time feeding the fish, (even some BIG ones which would have been definate targets) and it felt great. Knowing the fish were going to me attracted to me and food, I went alone, not allowing any spearo's to come along, and for a short period of time, I gave something back.


:confused: What did you do to make up for the sardines?
 
Nothing. It's up to whoever is involved in taking them from the ocean to decide if they want to get involved in contributing to a balance, in whatever way they choose. I can only try and do something with the fish I am directly responsible for removing.
 
Not having a go or anything but if you buy from a commerical operator, via bait shops or such, you are directly responsible for the fish (Sardines) being removed from the ocean. Without consumers to buy the product, the trawlers wouldn't be in business.

My personal approach is to not buy from fish markets, or eat fish in restaraunts. That way I don't contribute to commercial fishing. And by catching fish for them, I try to convince my friends to do the same.:)
 
Shadow kinda gets my point. ;)

Wasn't trying to pick on you, just seemed a little ironic that you were feeding them more dead fish to atone for those you killed perciously... maybe try bread next time? Never knew anyone to feel bad for killing wheat :D
 
Don't want to be too critical but also being a biologist and also knowing what ecological damage good intentioned tree huggers can inflict upon the environment, I just want to say be careful in what you are doing by feeding wildlife. I won't preach much but the main thing you might want to think about is what happens to those poor fish you fed, now that they consider man a food source, when they swim up to a spearo looking for a free handout? In my opinion, it's never a good idea to alter the natural behavior of animals by teaching them to lose their natural fear of humans. If you really want to help the fish out in your area, instead of feeding them go out and chase them around all day. Believe me you’ll be giving them a much better education in how to survive another day on the reef then by hand feeding them. But if you really feel that feeding them is the right thing to do, at least just dump it out of a boat; don’t interact with the fish in the process.

Scott
 
But thats the point Scott, when it's time to take my gun down again, I get a whole bunch of big, fat, well fed fish swimming up to me ! Just kidding guys ! Yeah, I guess in retrospect, it was'nt the smartest thing to do, but on the day it felt ok, and I left the water having had a bunch of fun on the dive.

But points taken, I guess it makes more sense to leave the fish, and maybe try to get get spearo's to swop there guns for a camera every once in a while.
In fact, maybe we can start an informal photo competition on DB, where one dive a month, spearo's take a camera down in place of a gun, and sees who 'shoots' the biggest fish ??

Cheers guys

Jeff
 
Feeding fish to fattened them up two weeks before a competition is what bothers me. "Ahhh, I spent almost two weeks feeding (squid and sardines) these two lings and during the competition, (so and so) shot 'em before I did. That pissed me off." Quoting a fellow competitor at Carmel.

In my opinion, there shouldn't be this kind of "scouting" and should NOT allow it. I don't want to beat a dead horse on this issue, as I am sure it has been discussed before. Anyway, today I'm quite cranky, the wind keeps blowing faster than Priest Holmes in a football field and the water is darker than a chalk board.

Scott, you are probably right regarding not feeding the fish in their natural habitat, but look what McDonalds and BK is doing to us. They shouldn't be selling that crap, yet we keep eating it. Why not? No cooking, no smell and cheap. The American way!

Sorry, bad analogy.
 
I dont think that feading the fishes is actually good for the fishes, cause they get used to the divers and this is what is dangerous for them...the next time they approach to a diver to get ''food'' that diver might easily shot them!

I ve been spearfishing for a long time....and the best contribution would be actually to scare the fishes...even if this sounds weird....and man....fishes that learn what a diver is are way more challenging to spear.

RCC
 
Bluecape,

"In fact, maybe we can start an informal photo competition on DB, where one dive a month, spearo's take a camera down in place of a gun, and sees who 'shoots' the biggest fish ??"

That's a very cool idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scott
 
There're going to be some who disagree with my point of view on this subject, but that's fine, disagree away, here's how I see it:

All living animals, and some plants, feed on something for survival. Every living animal, even man under certain circumstances, is prey for something else. There is not one thing wrong with selective take as long as a single method of take isn't so effective it runs the risk of reducing a species to below a sustained take level or worse, below a recoverable level.

As for the circle of life thing: nothing killed can ever be really wasted as long as the carcass remains. Something, even bacteria, will feed on it. Therefore, whatever the killed thing is never leaves the circle.

While I don't particullarly agree with feeding any wild animal I do believe that a lower impact way of going about it is to rather than use commercially caught fish take your gun on your fish feeding forays and pop a couple to cut up and feed to the others. Or you could just do what I do and gut any fish you have shot for yourself while you are in the water. I usually gut them right after I get them on the stringer, but this method may not be advisable in sharkier ares.
 
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