Your thoughts on spearfishing

[disorderly]

What needs to be understood CB is that these 'fishermen/fisherwomen' used powerheads,which were a spear that housed a chamber on the end carrying a 12 gauge shotgun cartridge,the method was basicly swim down hit a number around the head and watch them spiral off quivering with nerves then go tailrope them and drag them to the surface for the obilgatory photo session,the photo session was then followed by trophy taking and the dumping of the remains.

Well described ,banshee.
I remember reading an interveiw by Ron and Valerie Taylor and when asked about the early days of powerheads and Grey Nurse Shark's, Ron replied...."Unfortunately in the 1950's and 60's we killed a "few" GNS because we thought they were dangerous..."
I think a 'FEW" might be an understatement.
I was under the impression that they and there ilk actually decimated colonies of them in places like Seal Rocks on the mid north coast of NSW.

Anybody who has actually dived with them(GNS) will be well aware of what a placid natured animal they and just how easy they are to approach and what a piss easy target they would be to a spearfisherman armed with a powerhead....
Ron and Valerie were obviously slow learner's.

Scott

Scott

[NAGG]

Having done a little in years gone by (not that well!) I'm neither for it or against it ...... specially if it is done with some common sense
Without a doubt they have a bad rap due to some species that were targeted in the name of sport ( particularly GNS , groper , wrasse etc) .... most of which were easy targets .... & of course lead to the decline of those species in certain areas.

It seems to me that some of the regulations that govern their sport .... have lead to the decline in the spearfishoes ..... banning the activity in bays , rockwalls etc

The one point that stands true .... is that it is very much TARGET orientated ...... you choose to kill a Target or not! ...... There is no C&R !

Then, I hope that their target is taken for the table!

Nagg

[Bloody Grinner]

Plus, you've got to factor in the dangers such as sharks, shallow water blackout and a few other possibilities and it will always be a sport for the young, fit & adventurous.

very good read this thread. it helped me understand a lot about the past and present of spearing.

I don't know what "shallow water blackout" means. Can anyone explain this please?

cheers,
BG

[boney-leg]

Shallow water black out occurs when divers hyperventilate to get depth in their dives or in effect stay down for longer. The urge to breath is lessened by hyperventilating.

Nagg - as you say ... there are those that have no regard for laws and others. The vast majority of spearos do target fish to take home - not many of us want to bring the grey suits in for no reason. I accept that in the bad old days people like Ben Crop and Rod Taylor were killing sharks before picking up their cameras and now championing them - those days have gone. Game fisherman were just as bad in their day too - killing their catches so they could be weighed and photographed. No one would like me to label all line fisherman after Vic Hislop or the tuna boys down south In fact pro mackerel fisherman don't mind knocking off sharks still. There is a lot of conjecture as to how well SOME fish survive catch and release especially when hooks end up ripping gills or foul hooking. Because spearos target fish there is no by catch and it is environmentally friendly if you accept that they don't use bait. If I see a coral trout I know whether it is legal size and whether I should take the shot. Don't judge us all on the bad deeds of the minority.

[GazzaB]

i dont think its bad, i would even love to give it a go, its like anything the dicks fu@# things up for everyone else! i've some boat fishos that behave fare worse than some spearos!

[spelchek]

Shallow water black out occurs when divers hyperventilate to get depth in their dives or in effect stay down for longer. The urge to breath is lessened by hyperventilating.

Just FYI - you don't need to hyperventilate previous to submersing to suffer form shallow water blackout.

[MTAQ/BTAQ]

Shallow Water Blackout has a lot to do with the "breathing reflex" - that is, while you are sound asleep at night your nervous system is "instructing" the brain/lungs to breathe for you based on the percentage of carbon dioxide in the lungs (which is returned to the lungs via the blood stream).

Now when you over exert your self on a deep dive (trying to get that fish which is deep) or try to outdistance your mate underwater in a shallow swimming pool ( so warn your kids about this one) - you are using up great amounts of oxygen which are being transported to the body and brain via the bloodstream. Now that oxygen just does not taper out but ends with a full stop without any warning and you become unconscious.

Now humans do not breathe water very well - so the breathing reflex now comes into play, the brain tells the lungs that you have gone to "sleep" (really you are unconscious due to "shallow water blackout" - no problem if this happens on land because we are in an ocean of air)) then based on the percentage of carbon dioxide in your lungs (remember you heart is still pumping and sending carbon dioxide back to the lungs) you then start to breathe but you are breathing water and the end result is that you drown.

A couple of years ago 2 spearos off Noosa succumbed to SWB and they found their bodies 2 days later washed up near Double Island Point.

[boney-leg]

Now when you over exert your self on a deep dive (trying to get that fish which is deep) or try to outdistance your mate underwater in a shallow swimming pool ( so warn your kids about this one) - you are using up great amounts of oxygen which are being transported to the body and brain via the bloodstream. Now that oxygen just does not taper out but ends with a full stop without any warning and you become unconscious.

You're right that it has to do with the level of co2 that triggers the breathing mechanism but it is a balance between o2 & co2 that triggers it. If a diver breathes normally before going down or in the pool as you mention above then there isn't a problem. What usually happens though is people nearly always try to take a few quick deep (not normal) breathes to increase oxygen intake. They are instead causing low blood carbon dioxide levels (hypocapnia) and thus the reflex is subdued. You are always best just to relax when diving but even after years of experience - if I know I'm going deep I automatically change my breathing style which isn't the best idea

[Heath]

As long as the Spearos stay away form me when I'm fishing at anchor and annoy Willo I don't really give a rats about em'

Seriously, some of them should do a course in etiquette. They come way to close to boats already fishing a location more often than not.

[BeachBabe13]

Hey all ive read some posts here on ausfish on spearfishing and hav found that most people are dead set against it. I was just wondering why that is? I lov my fishng and atm im getting into a lil bit of spearfishing and its not as easy as every1 says it is. I no there are some idiots out there that make it bad for the rest of us that dont do the right thing taking more then they need but this shouldnt apply for the rest of us.
Ive read cases on here where u might be fishing and some spearos pull up near u and start spearing and i admit thats wrong but ive had it that i was spearing off the rocks and some fishermen start fishing directally infront of where i was. I dont no whos entitled to stay but i didnt want to cause trouble so i packed up and moved 100m further down the beach.

Whats your opinion on this?

I used to spear fish alot in my Teens..And last year got a new spear but I havnt had the chance to test it out yet.. I havnt been for a long while ..So the deep water does worry me a bit, as here we have sighted the ol great whites around coming in after the snappper..So IMO do the right thing..

[LeeannP]

Watching spear fishos in action on the inside of Fraser Island about 2 years ago was disgusting. There were three spearing and one person on the boat. The guys spearing would come up with their fish, hand the spear to the guy on the boat who proceeded to use the rail of the boat to clear the spear of the fish. Where did the speared fish go? Back in the water... dead. Incredibly intelligent stuff.

[Metalstorm]

A mate and I were spear fishing off the rocks up the north coast a couple of years ago, anyway we were swiming along the surface, I looked down and behind me and there was this 3 1/2 4 ft Bull shark following, I reached out grabed my mate and by the time he saw what was happening I already had speared it just behind its head (hang on) I was trying to keep the spear in (we use hand spears not guns) by trying to hold the shark against the bottom (about 3m of water) just about to run out of breath when my mate hit it in the gills took about 5minutes. That was a good rush.

[Heath]

no idea what happened here

[kokomo]

The most important point is dont confuse the actions of the past spearo's with the current spearo's.

Excluding the minority of F$$$ Heads like there are in any activity

All the spearo's i know preach sustainability and most of the time go spearing to enjoy diving/underwater photography sight seeing etc etc....

Taking fish is often not the goal of the day for me.

The guys that fish off Brisbane would not believe what the botton looks like. the 7's, Shallow Tempest, hutchies, smith's etc etc... Is AWESEOME...

[bondy99]

I too have been a spearo for a few years and played underwater hockey or octopush , not a spectator sport unless your in canberra as there are glass port holes at the side of the swimming pools for spectators to watch.

Australia has an international team but not widely known or publicised except to those in the sport.

Anyway..to the topic. I choose which fish I want by being selective and also weary about noahs being about, hence an Alpha flag and a long line to which the fish are theaded onto and not on me.

There has been spearos in the past that have been a bit cowboyish but thats like with anything, boys with their toys speedster cars, boats and jetskis to boot. So nothing new there.

Only the extreme greenies or conservationist tend to disagree with us, hence peeing into the pockets of pollies to grab sympathetic votes.

This is my opinion and may not represent the views of others.

Peter