dirtpoor:
Hey all,
With close to 100 dives over the last many years I have been presented with an opportunity to commercially dive for sea urchins. I am located on the east coast of Canada and have been renewing my equipment, and brushing up on my repetitive dive calcs. I have never done this type of diving and was wondering if there is anyone who would like to share some insight as to the good the bad and the ugly about this profession.
Some background: Depth of area is 50 - 65 feet, Good producing area but deep. Limited to 4 dives on any one day only dive 3 days a week (weather permitting). 4 divers, two crew and the skipper. Cold water as we move into late fall and then winter.
I have no specific questions and am interested in finding a forum to discuss this topic. I will share my experiences once I get in the water and have some first hand experience.
Thanks to all,
AJ
hi aj
i did fish for urchens in nova scotia
did it for 4 seasons
yes it is a job
you do sleep well at night
had 4 divers per boat
you dive alone
usualy a 1/4 mile apart
current can be up to 13 knots
avarage temp 28.f
from october to april
spent 9 hours a day in the water
i used argon for suit inflation to stay warm
paid by the pound
depends on the quality of the urchens
dependant on mother nature, diving is not the problem but the surface support is
you may find that you spend more time waiting for storms to pass than fishing
storm comes in, stirs up the sea, then have to wait for opposing wind to drop seas before you can fish
most of the time you are fishing with the surge of the water
finding the urchens is a hit and miss search
after 4 seasons had 35 spines surgically removed from hands
you want to be set up for solo diving
boat gets 50% of your catch
my last season was with the elnena season, i spent more time waiting for storms to pass than fishing
my best season was 74 days of fishing in 4 months and made $25,000 grosse.
after expenses i broke even.
if you are doing this for just the money there are better ways.
my last dive, i was in 50 feet of water, when i noticed a shadow above me on a sunny day.
i looked up to see a 13 foot porbeagle shark circling me, that would not go away.
as i was standing on the bottom, i looked at my pressure guage to see that i had 500 psi. left in my 240 cu.ft. air supply.
yes i had been in the water for 3 hours at that time.
i checked all my 3 computers, that told me that i was not still in deco. and was able to surface.
i took the jetstream reg out of my mouth and timed a purge of air to hit the shark when the bubble of air got to the shark 30 feet above me.
that scared the shark away.
i surface with a controlled accent, signal the boat with my air horn, that was a 1/4 mile away, and got out without incident.
The diver that replace me the next year, had a incidence with a shark that tried to grab him. but he was able to put the full bag of urchens between him and the shark.
the third and last hit was in 3 feet of water as he was scrambling onto the shore and the shark took the bag of urchens with him.
the diver was not hurt.
the total experince, for me was awesome.
i am not tring to scare you but you have to know the risks.
if you want more info pm. me with your contact info. and i would be happy to help answer all of your questions
