Jew Fish.....

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Location
Hampton, Va.
This is a silly Question but one that needs to be asked. If a large Jew fish (like ones you see at wrecks that "live" there ALL the time) could somehow be caught without taking you for a ride of your life. Would the meat be tough like on Older cattle? I personnaly would feel slightly ashamed at taking something that is almost like the wreck itself, something that draws divers down to certain areas. I guess it would be an ethical question for each diver. Has anyone ever had a RIDE from fish that was probably too large to catch?
 
I've shot an AJ that wanted to do the best "Saturday Night Fever" disco dance that you've ever seen. Down in the sand, bending the spear to look like a pretzel, and so much silt and dust it looked like an underwater tornado.Took 15 minutes and 1500psi of scuba rodeo to finally get it on the stringer. Even the baracuda's watching nearby decided to stay out of this fight. I will say, we cooked it up later that week and it fed 8 people with more left over.

I usually take a very long look at my gauge and think twice before shooting another big AJ.
 
flyinghuntster:
I personnaly would feel slightly ashamed at taking something that is almost like the wreck itself, something that draws divers down to certain areas. I guess it would be an ethical question for each diver.
Unfortunately it is often just a question of ethics for each individual diver, and in many cases their ethical reasoning is sadly lacking and encompasses little more than the legalityof the act.

A you allude to, some fish almost qualify as dive site in and of themselves and the ecomomics of shooting them just do not make sense as the fish are much more valauable as attractions at the site than they are on someone's plate.

If you shoot a fish with that status, expect to draw the rath of the regulars who dive that site. Wether it happens to be legal or whether you have the legal "right" to shoot it is not the issue and is not going to make much difference. The larger ethical issue is that you will have chosen to pursue a personal desire and eliminate a potentially scarce and difficult to replace resource at the expense of the diving community at large.

Don't misunderstand - I am not anti-spearfishing. On the contrary I have been spearfishing for 25 years and still enjoy it when appropriate. The thing is that what is considered ethical and acceptable in spearfishing has changed over time. Those relatively few spearfishermen out there who lack the ethical understanding or the social grace to get a clue when they offend other people pose a significant risk to spearfishing as a sport. Non-spearfishing voters out number spearfishing voters by about a 1000 to 1. A few isolated acts can result in public outcry and a legal mandate that will not go well for people who spearfish.
 
Coming from a guy whose family used to commercial fish, Jewfish are not tough as leather.. a 100# jewfish is still a juvinile. The fish houses would be happy when we showed up with a 200..300..500# fish.. thats a LOT of grouper! Dive most of the artifical reefs aroud right now and thats all you see besides snapper to... the rest of the grouper are sparse and small.
 
Yeah, they taste delicious, but it's sorta like eating your little brother.
 
more times then not jew fish are not very good eating.
 
flyinghuntster:
Would the meat be tough like on Older cattle? QUOTE]

A friend and I speared a few Greasy Back Grouper, which looks pretty much like a Jewfish in the Philippines that weighed about 25 lbs. They were chewy and tough...but tasted pretty good. The 40-60 lb Jewfish we catch in the Placencia Lagoon are very soft and tender. Never had the chance to eat a 400 lb one ....yet.
 
Walter:
It's academic, it's illegal to harvest Jewfish.

I'd assume they're talking about jewfish in non-U.S. waters where hunting is still permitted.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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