[Coral-List] Scuba and Spearfishing

Darla J White onareef at yahoo.com
Mon May 12 22:11:28 EDT 2014


Aloha all,
>
>
>West Hawaii recently passed a new rule prohibiting scuba spearfishing, as Charles just mentioned.  I concur that it should have been done sooner, but it had a lot of opposition regardless.  Please see the document by Dr Bill Walsh of the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) in Kona, West Hawaii.   It is a compilation of annotated references relevant to SCUBA spearfishing management and can be viewed here:
http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dar/pdf/WHI_SCUBA_Background.pdf
>
 Also, see this new paper cited below (open access), and note their recommendation:
 
"We recommend a ban on SCUBA spearfishing  to preserve or aid the recovery of large,
functionally important coral reef species and to improve the sustainability of coral reef fisheries."  

>
>Citation: Lindfield SJ, McIlwain JL, Harvey ES (2014) Depth Refuge and the Impacts of SCUBA Spearfishing on Coral Reef Fishes. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92628. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092628
>
>
>Best, Darla

 
Darla J White
Special Projects Coordinator
Hawai'i DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources, Maui
130 Mahalani Street, Wailuku HI 96793
 
Eyes of the Reef
Island Coordinator, Maui
http://eorhawaii.org/

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onareef at yahoo.com 
darla.j.white at hawaii.gov
On Monday, May 12, 2014 8:17 AM, "Delbeek, Charles" <CDelbeek at calacademy.org> wrote:
 
Just to play devil's advocate, with advances in breath hold diving equipment and techniques, I would say that these spearfishermen can bag almost as many fish as someone on SCUBA. A far greater threat to large fish, particularly parrotfish in my opinion, is people spearing at night. Then it is a simple matter to bag a sleeping fish. Several countries have banned this form of spearfishing, and just recently Hawaii did so as well, but they were little late on this in my opinion.

J. Charles Delbeek, M.Sc.
Assistant Curator, Steinhart Aquarium
California Academy of Sciences

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-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Rudy Bonn
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 9:25 AM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [Coral-List] Scuba and Spearfishing

Spearfishing on SCUBA should be prohibited in my opinion!  Fish stocks are already depleted; you shrink the gene pool by taking the large fish out of the population; when you miss, as a lot do, you end up hitting the reef and open a door for microbes to invade, and it is inherently dangerous.  Do we have to conquer every living thing on this planet along with the planet itself?  We are the most dangerous parasites ever created and now, we are seeing the consequences of our activities!  We should be ashamed, and I am!  Ever heard of cage hunting?  Machismo and ego need to go!  I look at these trophy hunters bragging about the dangerous animal hanging on their walls and how they overcame their fear and bagged it!  Yep, takes a lot of courage to kill an animal when you are armed with a canon on your back!  Get over it, spearfishing om scuba is not fair to the animals being pursued and should be prohibited everywhere!  

 
Rudy S Bonn
Marine Educator/Biologist
Miami, Florida
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