Home | Tournaments | Calendar | Weather | Merchandise | Sponsors |
|
Australia, New Zealand & Indo-Pacific Post your shooting reports and other stuff from Down Under and beyond |
|
Thread Tools | Rate Thread | Display Modes |
01-03-2010, 05:19 PM | #16 | |
Pacific Spearo
Join Date: Jul 2007
Age: 62
Posts: 3,358
|
Re: Tongatapu
Quote:
|
|
01-03-2010, 07:13 PM | #17 |
JOIN OUR DIVE CLUB!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Earth!
Age: 23
Posts: 1,404
|
Re: Tongatapu
yeah you should go to the zoo and shoot Panda's. I hear the Panda's are prized trophies too! Such a shame to shoot those Nap's. I had plenty of chances, and ALWAYS resisted myself, too beautiful too shoot. That's like shooting turtles in the south picific, you can shoot those things, but just because you can, should you? Napolean Wrasse are on the threathen species list by the way.
__________________
sashimi? |
01-03-2010, 07:38 PM | #18 |
FREEDIVER/FREEDIVER
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Satellite Beach, FL
Age: 39
Posts: 233
|
Re: Tongatapu
Well put Behslayer
__________________
Have gun will travel |
01-03-2010, 11:56 PM | #19 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Planet Earph
Age: 80
Posts: 1,688
|
Re: Tongatapu
I have seen a lot of Naps in my day. Schools of them on a reef. Slowly they dissapeared... Why dont we talk about dogtooth on the same level as Napoleans? Too many fish are not landed as compared to those that are when it comes to these big rare fish. Much like the story of south point on the big island of Hawaii. Some tourist went up there and just slayed all the big Ono (100lb +). Now that place is a ghost town. The world is the same, there is just less in it.
Are dogtooth not on the same level as Naps? Arent they just as rare? |
01-04-2010, 12:25 AM | #20 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: San Diego
Posts: 1,337
|
Re: Tongatapu
If you are going to consume the entire fish you may have a case, but why shoot a fish on the endangered list just for a picture to show your friends. I guess the mankind will never learn until its too late.
|
01-04-2010, 12:26 AM | #21 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Palm Beach
Posts: 876
|
Re: Tongatapu
The humphead wrasse is long lived, but has a very slow breeding rate. Its numbers have declined due to a number of threats.
Threats include: 1) intensive and species-specific removal in the live reef food fish trade; 2) spearfishing at night with SCUBA gear; 3) destructive fishing techniques, including sodium cyanide and dynamite; 4) habitat loss and degradation; 5) juveniles being taken from the wild and raised or “cultured” in floating net cages until saleable size; 6) a developing export market for juvenile humphead wrasse for the marine aquarium trade; 7) lack of coordinated, consistent national and regional management; and 8) illegal, unregulated, or unreported (IUU) fisheries. In December 2003, Australia prohibited all take and possession of humphead wrasse, other than for limited educational purposes and public display. In Guangdong province, southern mainland China, permits are required for the sale of this species; Indonesia allows fishing only for research, mariculture, and licensed artisanal fishing; the Maldives instituted an export ban in 1995; Papua New Guinea prohibits export of fish over 2 feet (65 cm) Total Length; and Niue has banned all fishing for this species. |
01-04-2010, 12:30 AM | #22 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Palm Beach
Posts: 876
|
Re: Tongatapu
My respect nice catch your dive seem awesome i would have shot that wrasse if i had the chance , but now reading more about the fish , if i ever travel to the pacific i wouldn't shoot it , maybe next time you can spare the fish and hopefully someone here can learn more about the humphead wrasse before shooting one
|
01-04-2010, 09:34 AM | #23 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Big Island
Posts: 5,098
|
Re: Tongatapu
Quote:
[At this point I guess I should explain my Avatar.. as it surely doesn't suit the discussion. I took those four fish on my birthday several years ago. I was shorediving with one local friend who I had persuaded to come on a huge swim ie. miles against current, out into the blue.. We were having a BIG local style party. Fish and rice. He got freaked out, got blisters, and went in, taking our buoy with him. Then I got shoaled.... I took two and went for one more smaller one knowing how many people would be at the party, knowing that the heads, tails, and bones would be made into soup. The third shot nailed two fish, which was a big hassle considering I had no buoy and was holding onto everything with a little piece of rope.. Normally, if we go for a dive, we take one fish per person. And we only fish when the fridge is empty. This discussion is Not about why killing fish is wrong. We are Spearfishermen. We take what we will eat and we enjoy the hunt. This discussion is about the targeting of certain species and whether there are some species out there that should/could be considered for a No Shoot list. |
|
01-04-2010, 02:34 PM | #24 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: coffs harbour nsw australia
Age: 67
Posts: 415
|
Re: Tongatapu
Behslayer your spearfishing ethics are beyond reproach IMHO, I make an active effort to 'preach' a similar gospel amongst those that spear and line fish in my locality.
Sincere respect to you sir! |
01-04-2010, 03:12 PM | #25 |
Used Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Key West, FL
Age: 49
Posts: 1,409
|
Re: Tongatapu
Beautiful fish!
Can you post some more pictures? Every one of those fish are outstanding specimens!
__________________
Something NEW coming soon.... |
01-04-2010, 06:32 PM | #26 |
Thanks, but no tanks!
Join Date: May 2008
Location: 30 percent in Hawaii..
Posts: 218
|
Re: Tongatapu
Ahhh, a conundrum, to be sure. I have to once again agree with Behslayer on the Napolean issue... I have traveled to some outlying atolls and the indigenous people there would not normally have access to these types of giant fish. And we cannot comfort ourselves by saying the fish was not wasted, because truthfully, if we didn't have the "locals" to pawn off a fish like that, would we really have taken a 150 pounds of Napolean meat home with us? Maybe, but probably not. I have a hard enough time bringing back 50 pounds of fish from trips. But I applaud the effort. Shooting a Napolean that big is definitely taking a very big risk of losing your gear (at least)! Otherwise, I am stoked for you guys for having an experience that doesn't come along many times in this life!
|
01-04-2010, 07:57 PM | #27 | |
JOIN OUR DIVE CLUB!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Earth!
Age: 23
Posts: 1,404
|
Re: Tongatapu
Quote:
Shooting Napolean's is like shooting a cow in pasture, I have a bunch of footage of a Napolean within a spearguns reach of me. But I like to think that he could of lived a long life. I hear that Manatee's are fun to shoot, who's down?
__________________
sashimi? |
|
01-05-2010, 10:14 AM | #28 |
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Big Island
Posts: 5,098
|
Re: Tongatapu
"Please don't start up the 'its a majestic fish so lets protect it' crap-it is an emotional justification, not a logical one.
In Tongatapu these fish are not endangered like they are in other parts of the world, in fact I saw more of them than I saw jobfish, or dogtooth." Freediving Fool, unfortunately your question about shooting manatees is not just a joke.. a few years ago a 7OOlb Dugong, our version of the Manatee, washed in on the beach. Dead from an infection spreading out from the 7mm shaft lodged in it's chest.. I know who did it. A local Indonesian who had been given a Speargun by a visiting surfer. Ofcourse he planned on bringing it in to the beach like a hero and I guess eating it.. ofcourse, the Dugong took off with his shaft. In Indonesia, these species are not protected by law. There are quite a few of them, and I imagine in some places, the "local" fishermen might encourage a visiting tourist spearfisherman to shoot one.. Herby, this might be another one to add to your list. I think they might be good eating? If not, they could be burleyed? Sorry to be brash. I'm just trying to illustrate a point. It's an emotional response not a logical one. The real question here is where do we draw the line? Last edited by Behslayer; 01-06-2010 at 09:33 AM. |
01-05-2010, 11:02 AM | #29 |
JOIN OUR DIVE CLUB!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Earth!
Age: 23
Posts: 1,404
|
Re: Tongatapu
I know all about the dugong, a certain placed that I just lived in has them or did have them. There is a big issue about the U.S. building an airfield out to this bay, but the locals cried foul because it is Dugong habitat. The last Dugong actual sighting has been over 20+years ago. Where did they go, maybe someone speared them all. Who knows?
__________________
sashimi? |
01-05-2010, 09:47 PM | #30 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 207
|
Re: Tongatapu
Are you guys all high on crack?
|
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | Rate This Thread |
|
|