Comments on: Field Talk: Local spearfishing stories tell of fish depletion in Chile

By: Juanito

Juanito — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:16:32 +0000

Really? Spearfishing is the cause of the decline? The least efficient method of fishing besides rod and reel, the absolute least popular method of harvesting fish–this is the reason fish stocks are being depleted. What about longline fishing? What about the massive Chinese and other Asian fleets illegally fishing in our waters? No, couldn’t possibly be any of those things. It’s the guys and girls in wetsuits with *gasp* rubber band-powered GUNS!

Who writes this stuff, and how much did the Chinese government pay you?

By: James

James — Wed, 30 May 2012 03:21:58 +0000

Spearfishing is an eco friendly way to catch fish if practice with a conscience. You can see your catch, for one and decide if the fish is a proper size. Also spearfishing with tanks isn’t spearfishing. It is murder and should be outlawed in all countries. If you spearfish with a tank, you should loose your equipment. Another thing, commercial fishermen take more than 90 percent if not higher of all fish caught. So don’t blame spearfishing for fish depletion. Give me a break.

By: Michael Canoy

Michael Canoy — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:55:22 +0000

I wonder if 2 samples taken 30 years apart, from disparate locations, can tell you much except that reef fisheries, along with many other fisheries, has declined over that period. During the same period rainfall has shifted, the climate has changed, and the total number of fishermen has increased. Since the government statistics doesn’t break out spearfishing from other methods, all that tells us is that, in general, all fisheries takes have decreased. Most spear fishing catches are landed and marketed locally. The government never sees them. Fishery Management Commissions have indicated that reef fishing is most affected by habitat destruction, pollution, and unregulated artesianal fishing; particularly trap fishing.