views on ethics of spearfishing

[Patrick O'Donoghue]

A while ago I went into a scuba shop in Cape Town and when they heard that I was a spearfisherman they good naturedly starting giving me a hard time about it.I know there are some people who are very anti this but what do you think - here are some of my thoughts.
Commercial fishing, especially some types like prawn trawling have a very large bycatch which translates to a massive waste of other species and in some areas like the Tugela Banks a lot of this is juvenile fish which must drasically affect the ecosystem.In addition deep trawling causes huge ecosystem damage which can leave large areas devoid of life and bottom structure after a net has been dragged across it.Bottom fishing ensures that most fish brought up from any sort of depth will die from barotrauma even if it is desirable to release it and the list goes on and on.A lot of the people who decry spearfishing seem to ignore these facts and quite happily will buy tins of tuna or prawns from the suermarket.

Apart from the physical limitations of depth and time on spearos we are able to be virtually 100% (as long as you can shoot resonably straight) selective in your take.I personally, and a lot of the spearos I know, do not take any or very few species of reef fish as these are so suseptable to local overfishing.

My answer at the scuba shop was you must see the damage at popular reefs like Sordwana caused by incorrectly boyant scuba divers before you claim to be ecologically friendly (not that I have anything against scuba, I even put on tanks occasionally - had a great dive in False Bay 3 weeks ago)

Lets not get to personal or aggro on this topic but maybe we can understand opposing points of view a little better.

[Graeme Duane]

Hey Patrick, I've tried educating the ignorant. Some don't want to learn, or can't see things from another perspective. Responsible spearing has the least environmental impact of all ocean harvesting methods. We don't have to argue that.

The low point of access to the sport of SCUBA diving causes huge problems because some folk who don't understand the sea also don't understand how spearing works.

A good reply to people like this is a polite "you don't understand". If the reply is "Yes I do", then repeat again.

[Dazz]

Hey paddy.

I think that there are some spearo's who give others a bad name. There are those that shoot everything in site and sell their catches. Just as there are rock and surf and ski boaters who do the same thing. Some spearos really give us a bad name when they shoot brindle/potato bass with the express intent to kill them. The same can be said for sharks. Now I am not talking about prodding off big predators to get your catch back. If you shot you keep it (if you can).

My point is that I believe most spearfisherman are fairly responsible and are very selective. The amount of fish they take is far less than other forms of fishing and there is no real bycatch as you select what you shoot. On the whole we are responsible and non threatening to the underwater ecosystem. If there were not the minority of guys who did stupid and irresponsible things like shooting brindal bass to try and kill then we would not have the bad name.

[Grant]

Firstly I must disagree with the damage due to scuba divers at Sodwana. What the 19 March 2007 storm did in a few hours all the scuba diver past, present and future could not achieve together.

Secondly anyone who can free dive, hunt down, outwit, shoot and land their prey in an un-natural environment deserves to eat their catch. You will find most of the people pointing fingers are un-informed and/or un-able to spearfish. The comparison to commercial fishing is a no-brainer as spearing is the least effective form of fishing on the planet when it comes to energy expended compared with catch taken. It is a frustrating topic to discuss...

[Stung]

As a long-time spearo and having spent over 1500 hours sucking air underwater, I believe the it is the freedivers who should hold the scuba fraternity in contempt. The majority of scuba divers are ignorant of the sea, sealife and marine eco-sytems. This is a function of the nature of the sport as it requires minimal training, limited fitness and allows only limited water time due to technical and cost constraints.

Spearos, on the other hand are generally required to make some considerable investments in time and effort before they can successfully locate, shoot and land fish. This results in greater water awareness and understanding of the marine environment.

By this I don't imply that all scuba divers are inept as there are many who have put in the time and effort to be comfortable in the sea (or that some spearos are unehtical). Rather, if we are going to generalise (as some scuba 'officianados' do and Patrick's mail indicates) then lets generalise properly.

[Graeme Duane]

I've been free-diving on many levels, competitively, for spearing and for filming. I also use scuba a lot for filming where the length of the shot or the depth dictates that I need compressed air.

If I was a schizophrenic one half of me should hate myself? Some spearos are real jerks, a few come to mind. So I don't know where to pin the bulk of this persecution. In the greater scheme of things, its better to have more people informed with regard to the goings on underwater. If someone has to do this by doing a scuba course that's fine. For real damage look to the industrial grade operations: trawling, dune mining and tuna long-line fishery, and the mismanagement of these.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Ignore ignorance.

[Coatesman]

Guys,

in my humble opinion ... :-) Yea there are greater issues at hand like long liners. Will this ever be resolved or stopped on, there is just too much money involved.
And most of the activity is out of the publics eye ... so no one bats an eye lid when they have sushi at John Dory's

However in saying this (as a spearo) we do have responsibility to the environment that we dive in, especially when we are in the public eye. I help run the small club out at Salt Rock and it has been great to see that the guys who come through the club pick up the ethics and even hold to them even when moving on. They intern effect others around them and so on. Things are changing and it is only the few who still pull the ring out of the sea in our area. (And they are frowned upon by a large part of the spearing community)

So I would like to think that things are changing in the spearo circles and I know that this does not go unnoticed. Generally spearo's are far more conscious of the environment than may I even say most Scuba folk (probably because of the high percentage of beginners ...and yes I am making a generalization). Note I did not say were 'more of a bunny hugga!' :-)

But even then I was faced with a challenge the other day when Jeremy Williams knowing that I am fairly conservative threw a curve ball at me. I like hunting Brusher, in our waters they are very challenging and are difficult to shoot. They dont shoal like in the cape and it is a fair accomplishment to shoot a good one .... and especially if it was not by fluke ...you were actually targeting the them.

Anyway he drew my attention to the fact that they are even more endangered than most of the reef species that they hunt. And were actually noted on a one list as fairly critical. I thought I was fairly well informed.

The story is not so much about me as is the on of understanding. I think if more people knew what was going on, they would respond differently.
Spearo's would be even more selective.
Fishermen would maybe thing twice about buying bait, and claim to release their catch.
Scuba folk would see spearo's maybe with some level of respect or tolerance.
And maybe the public would put greater pressure on commercial fishing.

As I ramble and read through the other posts again I see that I think we all see the same thing (funny so I have actually answered nothing ..new)

Graeme's response on the 26may is to true ... some people just are not going to understand, some want want to either. I am yet to bring some one round to 'my' way of thinking in an argument. So I choose to rather 'try' let my actions speak for them selves ......

Come to think of it I probably don't see their side the same way they do ........

Anyway we must not forget that certain powers at be have been put as guardians and have put rules and regs. Like or not, approve or disapprove! Supposedly based on the sustained utilization of the ocean resource and as long as these rules are adhered to well who can realy point fingers.

I used to be very hard on the guys shooting reef fish for example, fact is that most of the fish the guys shoot are not threatened like that ol Brusher or Salmon I target.
I cant agree with commercial spearfishing but the fish one tagets well thats a different story.

So maybe the next time a scuba chap gets all iffy, ask him if you have broken the law??

Coatesman gee I can ramble on :-)