Commercial Fishing vs Spearfishing

Commercial fishing abuse of fish stocks, if this were spearfisherman we would be banned in a day!

On a daily basis commercial fisherman in South Africa haul thousands of tonnes of fish out the sea. Spearfishing on the other hand is a minuscule fraction of this total catch. Why is it then that spearfisherman are the bad okes? Why is it that when the spearfishing permits go up our licenses go up the most? Why is it that when new MPA's are discussed spearfishing is immediately excluded? And the fisherman are still allowed to fish or worse catch and release fish? (Catch and release is the biggest farce on the planet. The fish die! There is a mortality rate... and it is high!)

Imagine this was a spearfishing competition? The public outcry would be insane.

So how do we improve things? How do we improve the public opinion of Spearfishing? Well I think it starts with each of us being role models and holding high spearfishing ethics above our greed


We can invest in SAUFF who like it or not is our future and the only defense we have at this point.

And lastly find / take every opportunity to educate people about the selective nature of spearfishing and the realities involved to actually go and get a fish.

Coatesman
Proud to be a spearfisherman