"It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top."
Hunter S. Thompson
The current Compass ( a Caribbean boat rag) has yet another anti spearfishing rant which would be OK if the ranting fellow did not eat fish or fish with hook or line...
Sadly I no longer fish or spear for any reef fish confining myself to blue water pelagic fish these days as ciguatera is so widespread that reef fish is something of a Russian roulette gig down here but over fishing whether by spear or line is equally bad but that does not make spearfishing evil in itself.
Responsible spearfishing is much more ecologically sound than line or commercial fishing as you are able to target what you want ( Mahi Mahi) and unlike a line fisherman you don't wind up with Barracuda, Puffer Fish, Angel Fish etc which even if released will be stressed and damaged by their encounter and whose survival is an iffy thing at best. Catch and release is certainly better than catch and kill for those unwanted critters but it is not so great from the fish's perspective. Spearfishing on the other hand if you are looking to catch a grouper of a certain size that is what you are going to get...A much more selective process. As to the spearfishing is bad for reefs canard... Do you know how much my spears and spearheads cost? Do you really think I "Mr Cheapseats" would shoot reefs or coral? DUH!!!
If you are going to catch fish for dinner the simple rule is be responsible....Harvest only for your needs.
It gets a lot harder where store bought fish is concerned...Commercial fishing is pretty much a rape/pillage affair and profit is the only rule that matters. So if you think the fish you buy at the local market is harvested in any sort of "Green" manner you might want to Google the term Bycatch and see just how wrong that thought is.
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