Spear Fishing teaches fish to fear divers

[sailingk8]

From Science Daily:

"In investigating the effects of marine areas closed to fishing by customary laws, an international team of researchers working in the Pacific found that fish exposed to speargun fishing take flight much earlier when a diver approaches compared with those living in protected zones."

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I know a few divers that spear fish and I always wondered if this had a decremental effect on the fish. As a diver that chooses not to hunt, it makes me a little angry that hunters are frighting away the fish I paid to see. There you are down on a wreck or reef and some one else is swimming around trying to kill what you are trying to look at. At a minimum they are scaring away the fish and as the article suggests, now I'm scaring away the fish on regularly hunted wrecks/ reefs because just the sight of a diver scares the fish into thinking I'm going to kill them.

Discuss...

 

[Zippsy]

Agreed. It may be a better method of fishing, compared to most others but I always thought that it changed the behavior of the fishes. That can't be good for divers.

 

[GravyBoat]

Pretty sure this is bogus, as the fish that would learn to fear divers would be dead. Otherwise stripped bass would really really fear eels and tube and worm up here in the northeast, and it just aint so.

 

[uberdude]

In Australia, the law doesn't allow you to spear fish with SCUBA gear, must be done free diving/snorkelling. Pretty good law if you ask me. Gives the fish a fighting chance. You have to be either a good free diver (not common) or a lucky snorkeller!!

Uberdude

 

[diversteve]

What I found really annoying was once on a trip in SC we dove a snall shallow wreck. There was a spearo on board who decimated the flounder? population living around the wreck during our dives. It hardly seemed sporting - hover over the fish laying on the bottom and fire from 4' away. Although I don't begrudge him his right to do so legally - he did plan to eat them - it irritated me because I had paid to see them alive - there wasn't much else in the area. And even less after he left. He was the only one spearing off the boat also.

 

[Zieg]

I used to dive an artifical reef in S. Fla. People had forgotten this site existed. It was great. The place was alive, lots of fish and lobster, soft corals, hogfish, and more. The only people who visited were a few spearfishermen. Never failed to get a large fish there. Then the site was rediscovered. It became a tourist dive. Someone was always on the spot. On weekends the site would be covered with sightseers. The fish and lobster disappeared. The site started to look dead. They were a bunch of Jew fish that would hang arould when we would spearfish, but they learned to leave the site whenever divers appeared, I believe because the spearfishermen left them alone while the tourist wanted to get their picture with the big fish.

Another spot, a nice ledge, was great for grouper. Rarely did you not get a fish. You just had to watch out for sharks. Then one of the local shops turned it into a shark dive. Tourists paying to see sharks would be laying all over the reef. The last I heard, the site was dead.

The spearfishermen did not scare away the fish from these spots nor did they kill all the fish. The tourists over dove them. The spearfishermen you see when you are doing one of your tourist dives are the ones giving the rest of us a bad name.

 

[Zieg]

Sorry, didn't see diversteve's post above, you know the spearfishermen paid his money just like you did to spear those flounder. But then again, he wasn't very good if he had to "fire from 4' away."

 

[Bob DBF]

I guess the fish around here are smarter, they take off when they see the spear.

After years of not spear fishing due to the decline in population and size, I occasionally take one now for dinner as I am seeing more and larger fish lately.


Bob
-----------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Scott L]

From Science Daily:

"In investigating the effects of marine areas closed to fishing by customary laws, an international team of researchers working in the Pacific found that fish exposed to speargun fishing take flight much earlier when a diver approaches compared with those living in protected zones."

MORE


I know a few divers that spear fish and I always wondered if this had a decremental effect on the fish. As a diver that chooses not to hunt, it makes me a little angry that hunters are frighting away the fish I paid to see. There you are down on a wreck or reef and some one else is swimming around trying to kill what you are trying to look at. At a minimum they are scaring away the fish and as the article suggests, now I'm scaring away the fish on regularly hunted wrecks/ reefs because just the sight of a diver scares the fish into thinking I'm going to kill them.

Discuss...

A prohibition on fishing from boats would result in a much healthier reef. It's not even close as to who removes more fish from UW habitat around here anyway.

 

[TSandM]

If the spearfishermen are not having a decremental effect on the fish, they aren't very good hunters