Crimson Red Sports

Nope, I didn't catch another big one.  But this big one GOT caught. (https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/newsfeed-now/alabama-diver-hooked-while-diving-reeled-to-the-surface/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow)  While diving and spear fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

But here is the sad part...


 :o

I'm a SCUBA Diver; been certified since 1972.  But spearfishing is wrong.  It's hardly sport.  Fish are speared from crevices and caves, where they normally find refuge.  They are killed during spawning and/or other times when they wouldn't bite a bait.  Worse, I've seen divers spear under-sized fish to use for bait to attract larger fish.  They then discard smaller fish (waste).  I've been fishing in the Gulf on reefs when divers arrived, worked the reef to right under our boat, and chanced being hooked to spear fish we'd been over.  It should never have been approved.

 :stop: :stop: I say to all if Chechem knows it is wrong then it needs to stop. RTR!

Wow, I have a follower. 

 :worship:

Hmmm, I have never thought about that from that perspective.  I can see how it might be a problem, especially from the under-sized fish's perspective.  However, let's not kid ourselves into thinking that boat or shore fishermen don't waste as much or more when they catch small fish that dies. Of course, boat or shore fishermen don't know when they hook into a small fish unlike spear fishermen can see the small fish before they fire.  However, done ethically, IMO, boat, shore, and spearfishing are ok.

Spearfishing just isn't fishing, especially with SCUBA.  Even free-diving with a spear is too easy to kill all of the bigger fish.  Their only refuge is deeper water.  I respect your opinion, but it's like night hunting with a spotlight; not fair or sporting.  I'm surprised it was ever approved.  As far back as the 1950s much of the world, even during the competitions (now banned), limited spearfishing to free diving only.

I've never gone scuba diving or spear fishing, so I've never given this much thought until now. Doesn't seem fair to me either. Is it banned anywhere that you know of, Chech?

It is illegal in Europe and Caribbean Nations but not the United States with the exception of most of the Keys. I have never done it but it is not considered a sport. More like a slaughter. Spear fishing with a spear, not a gun, while free-diving is legal most everywhere and seems much more fair to me.

Interesting. Thanks pmull.

The idea of free-dive spearfishing, and what keeps it legal in many pacles, is the belief that most fish can find refuge in deeper water.  Problem is that Goliath Grouper (Jewfish) and some other large groupers spawn in very shallow water.  Goliaths often spawn in mangrove channels in just 5-7' of water.  Obviously, spearing them when they're spawning is a double whammy; killing both the adults potential new generation.  It's just wrong.  Okay, I'm done.  Sorry to write so much.

Don't stop just because you think you are to wordy.  I am actually developing a different perspective regarding spear-fishing.  You have opened my eyes to something that I hadn't thought about previously.

Now, having said that... the idea that fish can find refuge in deeper water is ludicrous.  I have watched many documentaries about the undersea world.  Divers swim all around wrecks with fish that show no sign of fear of them.  Fish can see the shadow of a man standing on the bank of a pond or stream and they will quickly swim off because it is seen as a predator.  Not so with spear fishing apparently.  Fish just go about their normal business and though they will give some distance, they don't seem to fear a scuba diver like they would if they knew it was a man standing on the shore.  Perhaps you are right and it should be outlawed...