Spearfishing around the world - what's allowed and what's acceptable?

[gkrane]

And you are sure they are spearing while using scuba rigs? Either things have changed or I was initially given wrong information.

 

[BRT]

And you are sure they are spearing while using scuba rigs? Either things have changed or I was initially given wrong information.

Fairly sure. I've spent 7 hours more than once a couple of kilometers off the Cancun hotel strip diving with them. All the fish we came up with had holes in them and I watched while they shot them.

 

[Storker]

This is a sweeping statement.

Which part? The part about scuba divers with spearguns being marginally more common than hen's teeth around here? Or the part about me being a lot more comfortable if my buddy carried a pole spear than if he were carrying a speargun?

Try and hunt some large open water or rig fish with a pole spear.

I know. Which is why we scuba divers hunt bottom fish like monkfish, flatfish or wolffish and leave the free-swimming species to the freedivers.

You object to my statement but then say you wouldn't be comfortable buddying up with a spearo with a gun due to mental bandwith? Isn't this repeating my statement but in a different way?

I've seen freedivers handle spearguns. I've seen shooters handle ordinary guns. On both occasions, it has happened that I've been less than impressed with their handling of their gun. In both situations, you only need a split second of carelessness to kill or maim a person. That's more than a little different from keeping track of your buddy's whereabouts.




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[Eric Sedletzky]

Here in Northern California we hunt for:
Abalone (freediving only) 3 per day, 18 total per year, can't start before 8:00 am, can only take 9 from Marin and Sonoma counties, the rest or all can be taken from Mendocino county north to the Oregon border.
You must carry your license and abalone punch card/tags with you in a water tight container on your float or kayak, upon returning to shore you must fill in the report card and attach the corresponding tags to each abalone. You must do this on the beach or just out of immediate danger from surf etc. If caught filling out info away from the beach and after an elapsed time you will be cited and lose your license for a year plus a $1400 fine. Any and all infractions including accidentally mis-writing the date and correcting it with a scratch over will result in a fine. There is a zero tolerance policy on any and all infractions associated with abalone diving.

We also scuba dive or free dive for:
Scallops - limit 10
Lingcod - limit 3 - min size 24"
Varied species of rock fish in the Sebastes family - aggregate limit of ten except for a few special species which the limit is one or zero.
Cabezon - limit five I think? (don't quote me) @ 15"
Surf perch - limit ?
Urchins - limit 35
Puget Sound King Crab - cannot be taken on scuba, trap or freediving only because it's not listed under the things allowed under scuba. They are considered an invasive species but don't seem to be bothering the ecosystem at all. They are incredibly delicious. Limit 35.

Divers around here use pole spears and band guns for both scuba and freediving. There is not much animosity around here that I know of between free and scuba divers that I have ever seen.
Probably because most scuba divers also freedive for abalone.

We are lucky that we have challenging conditions and the area continues to project a legendary stigma as the wild foreboding north. Keeps the diver populations down and creates a nice invisible tourist barrier.

 

[gkrane]

Which part? The part about scuba divers with spearguns being marginally more common than hen's teeth around here? Or the part about me being a lot more comfortable if my buddy carried a pole spear than if he were carrying a speargun?


I know. Which is why we scuba divers hunt bottom fish like monkfish, flatfish or wolffish and leave the free-swimming species to the freedivers.




I've seen freedivers handle spearguns. I've seen shooters handle ordinary guns. On both occasions, it has happened that I've been less than impressed with their handling of their gun. In both situations, you only need a split second of carelessness to kill or maim a person. That's more than a little different from keeping track of your buddy's whereabouts.




--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

Rubbish, I hunt with firearms on land as well as a speargun on scuba and both require some of the same basic safety precautions. Have proficiency and safety protocols with the tool you have in your hands you shouldn't have any careless incidents. All of the spearos I know mainly hunt free swimming open water fish like grouper, hogfish, snapper, cobia, striped bass, amberjack, wahoo, tuna, and cubera just to name a few. Saying "Which is why we scuba divers hunt bottom fish and leave the free swimming ones for the freedivers" makes it glaringly obvious that you haven't been involved in spearfishing very long. Do a search on spearing on offshore rigs and open water and see what you find. You will probably change your tune a bit. Also, if you want to learn about spearfishing go over to spearboard.com. A lot better info with a lot more knowledgeable folks over there.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

@ Sam Miller thanks for the history less quite fascinating :worship: I have seen some vids of the Taylors using "Bang sticks" on the nasty sharks way back before people realized that grey nurse sharks looked fearsome but were not the "Man eaters". They were almost hunted to extinction in the region. Later Valerie and Ron Taylor became their biggest advocates. Ron died a few years back but Valerie is still a sought after and respected speaker for Marine Environments Awareness.

@ Eric thanks for the info. It kinda supports my (according to some misplaced) belief that hunting regulations set according to the specific environment are an excellent way to sustain a healthy population. Too many people taking too many fish are harmful. The right number of people taking the appropriate number of fish maintain balance. More people taking = less number taken each so in your area it sounds like the environment is truly part of the equation so you get to take more due to low numbers of fishers

I don't think this thread is about learning to spear fish so much as curiosity about where and what the different rules are around the world. At least that is how I read it.

For clarification I don't object to spearing or hunting. I admit to a bias of discomfort diving with spearos for the same reason as Storker. That relates to personal experience or perhaps lack thereof.

I have dived with a friend who I felt was a good safe buddy and was spearing. The spearing was secondary to being my buddy and her buddy awareness was excellent. I also was on a dive with her where I was buddied with someone else because she wanted to focus on spearing which she did but of course I still kept an eye on her. I never felt there was a risk to me in a misfire or missed shot with her. I feel she is a "safe spearfisher".

That said the majority of spearos I see locally scare the daylights out of me! I do primarily shore dives around home because I can enjoy the sport for the cost of a tank fill, petrol and parking costs. The same is probably the case for the spearos I see. They are trying to get a cheap meal fair enough but I see them in Marine preserves where they are not supposed to be. I find blue groupers that are protected and follow us around like puppies dead with spear holes. Anyone who shoots something as big as a blue grouper when there is a $15,000 fine if caught shooting one is clearly misinformed or doesn't care.. both scary conepts.

I suspect "serious spearos" go out on boats to the good fishing spots. I've never heard of a boat here that had both scuba divers and spearos on it. My problem is I have no way of knowing when I see one in the water if they are serious skilled spearos or weekend warriors. They certainly aren't equal. When I see a spearo.. I just like to stay away.. if they look to me like they have poor in water skills Iam more likely to turn my dive

Photographers are the same IMHO. Some people carry a camera and take pics while keeping an eye on their buddy because taking pics is secondary for them on that dive. Some people only dive for the pics they get. That is what dictates their suitability to be a buddy .. not the camera or lack of one. If I am doing a dive to get a shot of a specific critter my buddy and I know it discuss it and make our decisions. If I find something interesting I continually check with my buddy to see if he is ok, wants to move on etc. My normal buddy is my hubby so that works fine for us.

IMHO it isn't the equipment that makes a person a good or bad buddy, it is the agreed purpose of the dive and the mind set of the buddy!

 

[Johnoly]

... Either things have changed or I was initially given wrong information.

Remember that in some locations.........written laws and then actual enforcement are 2 separate things. And to add more murky water...Lionfish spearing on scuba is acceptable(depending on the MX location.....)

I've seen plenty of scuba divers hunting in MX. For me, when I'm on vacation I take pictures. Diving at home, I'm responsibly engaged underwater.

---------- Post added November 1st, 2015 at 08:40 PM ----------

....IMHO it isn't the equipment that makes a person a good or bad buddy, it is the agreed purpose of the dive and the mind set of the buddy!

That's a fantastic statement !! We've all seen good and bad divers. What they are carrying has little to do with their dive skills. I've seen instructors standing on the coral pointing out fish while holding on to the flag reel.

 

[Storker]

All of the spearos I know mainly hunt free swimming open water fish like grouper, hogfish, snapper, cobia, striped bass, amberjack, wahoo, tuna, and cubera just to name a few. Saying "Which is why we scuba divers hunt bottom fish and leave the free swimming ones for the freedivers" makes it glaringly obvious that you haven't been involved in spearfishing very long.

You say "rubbish". I guess you've done much UW hunting in Nordic waters, then. Or do you just persist in missing the point that I was - and am still - describing the regulations and customs in the country where I live?

Since there are no grouper, hogfish, snapper, cobia, striped bass, amberjack, wahoo, tuna, or cubera in the NE Atlantic, I would guess the latter and not the former.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My biggest lingcod to date

 

[gkrane]

You say "rubbish". I guess you've done much UW hunting in Nordic waters, then. Or do you just persist in missing the point that I was - and am still - describing the regulations and customs in the country where I live?

Since there are no grouper, hogfish, snapper, cobia, striped bass, amberjack, wahoo, tuna, or cubera in the NE Atlantic, I would guess the latter and not the former.

Then clarify a bit when you make a statement. Especially when you dedicate a post to how you hate sweeping statements. There are plenty of those species found in the NE Atlantic, maybe just not in Norway. Once again, it would benefit you to do some research on the sport. Seems like you are more interested in creating an argument but oh well. @bowlof petunias, I can understand how a diver with poor skills scared the hell out of you if they are spearing. Spearing or taking photos should always come after a divers ability to monitor their gas supply and relative position in the water, as well as having acceptable buoyancy skills. A newly certified diver IMO has no business having a speargun OR a camera in their hand until they can effectively manage their own dive.

---------- Post added November 2nd, 2015 at 08:32 AM ----------

Remember that in some locations.........written laws and then actual enforcement are 2 separate things. And to add more murky water...Lionfish spearing on scuba is acceptable(depending on the MX location.....)

I've seen plenty of scuba divers hunting in MX. For me, when I'm on vacation I take pictures. Diving at home, I'm responsibly engaged underwater.

---------- Post added November 1st, 2015 at 08:40 PM ----------



That's a fantastic statement !! We've all seen good and bad divers. What they are carrying has little to do with their dive skills. I've seen instructors standing on the coral pointing out fish while holding on to the flag reel.

First and foremost I think being a good sportsman also means you are an educated conservationist, so I always abide by the written law when hunting above and below the waves. Even if Mexico doesn't enforce some areas I would consider this a "No spearing on scuba location." Spearing fish or hunting in a protected reserve or shooting protected and/or illegal species is criminal poaching, ruins opportunities for law abiding hunters, and gives the uninformed general public a bad impression of all hunters.