Calling all spearfishermen!!!!! URGENT!!!!!!! Please read!!

[Jaksonbrown]

The WDFW is needing to hear your voice! If you love your spearing here in Washington and would like to see it continue, I highly urge you to go to this link and be heard!!!!!!

http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/washin ... t-psa.html

[WaGigKpn]

Thanks! will be sure to make my voice heard!

[kdupreez]

So this thread thats linked in makes it very clear that this guy is calling for a standup between non comsumptive divers and consumptive divers.. i.e. He seems to think the only thing divers want to do is create a "petting zoo" out of fishing areas?

I might not have enough history or context here, but is there truly that much of a "war" between divers and fishermen?

I love eating fish and to fish sport fish is the same as hunting and I cant see why there should be any conflict between divers and fishermen?

or what am I missing?

Maybe I'm just naive or its because have lots of sports fishermen friends and dont have any animosity between us?

[Joshua Smith]

So this thread thats linked in makes it very clear that this guy is calling for a standup between non comsumptive divers and consumptive divers.. i.e. He seems to think the only thing divers want to do is create a "petting zoo" out of fishing areas?

I might not have enough history or context here, but is there truly that much of a "war" between divers and fishermen?

I love eating fish and to fish sport fish is the same as hunting and I cant see why there should be any conflict between divers and fishermen?

or what am I missing?

Maybe I'm just naive or its because have lots of sports fishermen friends and dont have any animosity between us?

Like most of this crap, the animosity generally exists mostly on the internet.

[ArcticDiver]

Don't have a dog in this hunt but can't help raising a warning flag about vested interests, including governmental ones. Too often controversy is stirred by this governmental agency or that for job security and expansion. Won't bore you about the reason(s) I know that. But, it is personal, direct, experience.

My philosophy is that most things can be settled by reasonable people reasoning.

[nwscubamom]

What little experience I have sitting in meetings and in groups where anglers and spearfishers are present, the animosity seems to come from:
1. That divers (spearfishers) have an 'edge' over the anglers, and are able to get fish in habitat that anglers can't go in (ie. Kelp)
2. That divers scare away the fish with their bubbles so anglers aren't able to get them.
3. That divers can SEE what they're doing, and are therefore more successful and it's 'cheating'.

I haven't seen much animosity the other direction though - spearfishers toward anglers, other than often the rules 'aren't fair', giving anglers a longer season than spearfishers, or different rules for each set (like slot limits).

BTW, there's also a huge bit of animosity between sport fishermen and commercial fishermen.

- Janna

[Jaksonbrown]

The WDFW commission has asked for a void to be filled in when it comes to making, sustaining, and adopting new rules concerning our fish and wildlife and the health of Puget Sound. That voice that is absent is Spear fishermen. This is simply an attempt to organize and give this section of sportsmen a voice.

[60south]

The WDFW commission has asked for a void to be filled in when it comes to making, sustaining, and adopting new rules concerning our fish and wildlife and the health of Puget Sound. That voice that is absent is Spear fishermen. This is simply an attempt to organize and give this section of sportsmen a voice.

Well said. I don't spearfish, but I do think that everybody involved with local fishing needs a voice.

[CaptnJack]

The WDFW commission has asked for a void to be filled in when it comes to making, sustaining, and adopting new rules concerning our fish and wildlife and the health of Puget Sound. That voice that is absent is Spear fishermen. This is simply an attempt to organize and give this section of sportsmen a voice.

Well said. I don't spearfish, but I do think that everybody involved with local fishing needs a voice.

There's no plain old "diver", or underwater photographer or videographer on the Commission either.

[renoun]

I don't appreciate folks creating animosity when we should be attempting to encourage consensus based decision making. I have no idea how we can get people to work together though. Spearfishing is kind of like masturbation, more people do it than talk about doing it in public. I'm man enough to admit to both but I'm not sure how that stimulates any sort of constructive dialog. In the end we've got much more significant issues affecting fish and shellfish stocks.

[CaptnJack]

I don't appreciate folks creating animosity when we should be attempting to encourage consensus based decision making. I have no idea how we can get people to work together though. Spearfishing is kind of like masturbation, more people do it than talk about doing it in public. I'm man enough to admit to both but I'm not sure how that stimulates any sort of constructive dialog. In the end we've got much more significant issues affecting fish and shellfish stocks.

Be nice to have a diver (of any type, spearo or not) in that position. Even better if it was someone from here.

[Fishstiq]

So this thread thats linked in makes it very clear that this guy is calling for a standup between non comsumptive divers and consumptive divers.. i.e. He seems to think the only thing divers want to do is create a "petting zoo" out of fishing areas?

I might not have enough history or context here, but is there truly that much of a "war" between divers and fishermen?

I love eating fish and to fish sport fish is the same as hunting and I cant see why there should be any conflict between divers and fishermen?

or what am I missing?

Maybe I'm just naive or its because have lots of sports fishermen friends and dont have any animosity between us?

kdupreez, not trying to single you out but your question is one I hear a lot.


Remember when Mukilteo lighthouse park was closed to divers? Remember the outcry from the dive community, showing up at meetings in large numbers, speaking out, sharing info like pictures and video and the history of diving the site over decades by some divers, like John Rawlings?

Why? Why were divers so active and so energised behind the movement to keep Mukilteo open? 2 reasons. 1, they felt that the cited reasons for closing it were false and divers could reasonably prove that point. 2, divers know from history that once a site is closed to divers, it will likely be gone forever. The chances of it being reopened once closed are pretty much zero.

These are the same reasons hook and line anglers, as a community, have a general dislike and distrust of divers. Take for instance the Cove 2 octo incident, or the recent push by REEF to severely limit Cabezon harvest. In both incidents, anglers see divers attempting to close a fishery for what they see as false reasons, and they know once closed it will be gone forever. Right or wrong, this is how most anglers seem to view divers, and you can see this by spending time on pretty much any local angler forums.

So yes, there is a bit of a rift between the two groups.

Ron Garner, President of the Puget Sound Anglers, is trying to close that rift. He is trying to get spearos a voice when it comes to the policies governing our resources, and acknowledging that many different groups have valid points that should be considered collectively. If some here think that UW photogs and videographers aren't represented, I would encourage you to contact Ron, and I believe he would be receptive to your input as well.

We all want what's best for our natural resources, so we can continue to live in a beautiful and healthy place that we can share with our children and grandchildren. A lot of us disagree on what the "best thing" for our resources is, and there are views that range from no regulation at all to no harvest at all. Somewhere in the middle is what is actually best, and that's the common ground we need to find. There is going to have to be some give and take, and I'm sure a lot of folks won't be happy with the whole thing, but an educated conversation based on facts, and not emotion and agenda, is really the most responsible way to manage our resources IMO.

Hope this helps.

[McGlencoe]

So this thread thats linked in makes it very clear that this guy is calling for a standup between non comsumptive divers and consumptive divers.. i.e. He seems to think the only thing divers want to do is create a "petting zoo" out of fishing areas?

As a typical newbie, I have been chatting up anybody I can find who dives and it seems to me (again as a newbie) that there is a pretty big void between the "consumptive" divers and the "petting zoo" divers.

When I've mentioned spearfishing, some people get excited and will talk about it and others get ashen faced and want to reprimand me for even thinking about it. I talked with a fellow a couple weeks ago who said he was pretty much ran out of the dive shop he was certified through because he wanted to spearfish.

Kind of confusing to me as we all enjoy the underwater world, we should all be looking to keep as much diving open as possible.

[pensacoladiver]

I don't appreciate folks creating animosity when we should be attempting to encourage consensus based decision making. I have no idea how we can get people to work together though. Spearfishing is kind of like masturbation, more people do it than talk about doing it in public. I'm man enough to admit to both but I'm not sure how that stimulates any sort of constructive dialog. In the end we've got much more significant issues affecting fish and shellfish stocks.

Did you just admit to masturbating in public?

:-)

[renoun]

Did you just admit to masturbating in public?

:-)

No Way! Doing it in public would be lewd.

[pogiguy05]

FWIW I did my first dive since Bonaire at Three Tree yesterday. Now I am not a FISH ID person but I did search for what images of Rockfish look like. I did two dives and really the percentage of Rockfish were bountiful compared to any other critters out there. I seen Rockfish of all sizes yet only seen ONE lingcod, a few ratfish, and a few crabs. Which also makes me wonder what the shore fishermen there are casting for anyways.

[BillZ]

....... Which also makes me wonder what the shore fishermen there are casting for anyways.

The only thing open right now in Marine Area 11 is Salmon and Cabezon.

[CaptnJack]

FWIW I did my first dive since Bonaire at Three Tree yesterday. Now I am not a FISH ID person but I did search for what images of Rockfish look like. I did two dives and really the percentage of Rockfish were bountiful compared to any other critters out there. I seen Rockfish of all sizes yet only seen ONE lingcod, a few ratfish, and a few crabs. Which also makes me wonder what the shore fishermen there are casting for anyways.

There are lots of different types of rockfish...
Browns, blacks, olives, and quillbacks are doing great to good. In places, coppers are doing ok. The canaries and yelloweyes are completely hammered.