April 10, 2012Dear Sir,I refer to today's (April 10) article on page ten where some local divers are suggesting that Bermuda should hold itself out as a tourist “Adventure Spearfishing” destination, and respectfully object to that proposal for the following reasons:1) The largest specimens of black rockfish are certain to be the most successful breeders, and therefore in my view should not become the target of “the world” beating a path to its caves locally in order to both wound and kill it;2) While there is reportedly (at least hopefully at present) yet still a healthy breeding population of black rockfish in theoretically protected circumstances locally, the local fisheries staff are neither staffed, equipped or even remotely have the will (and thereby enthusiastic Government backing) to effectively enforce the local laws/regulations;3) Already there are reportedly grotesque floutings of the theoretical “one rockfish per boat per day” law, and whereby I am informed that at least one (conventional) fisherman blatantly brags that he has “caught over 600 black rockfish in one year”. If this is true, does anyone think that he is the only one? How sustainable is the present stock (and no matter how vigorous) when assailed by some of our most well equipped fishermen apparently hell bent on catching the very last rockfish?4) I am aware of some of the local divers who are successful in catching black rockfish by spear, and glory in their spirit. However, does it make any sense whatsoever to allow amateur spearfishermen (of which I am one) to legitimately catch one black rockfish per day when one would surely be enough for the very great majority to consume in a month, unless he is perhaps selling his catch illegally?5) How many such rockfish are simply wounded and thereafter escape in those “mis-adventures”, and how many perhaps mortally so? Is not every such example of “the one(s) that got away one of the most profound examples of purely wasteful excess that any of us can imagine?6) In such cases one often hears the rationale that “nothing is wasted in nature”, and that whenever such a magnificent creature is simply too strong to be caught despite a mortal wound, that at least its remains will then go to feed the very many other denizens of the deep always waiting to dine upon whatever is available, (and rather than he upon them). However, had he not ‘escaped', would the same spearfisherman then need to pursue another so promptly, and which he probably sets out to continue doing that very day every time one “gets away”?7) How many years of otherwise successful breeding stock does one regrettably lose when one of these is mortally wounded while nevertheless ‘uncaught'?8) How many more Lionfish will we all have to contend with whenever we needlessly lose one of the presumably very few reef predators apparently capable of reducing their ever increasing numbers? And9) The quote was made in today's Royal Gazette article “When I go out, (spearfishing), if I don't see ten or 15 rockfish in a day I'm having a bad day”. However, how long will it be before every such diver (and perhaps then every day) “has a bad day” if indeed we are so incredibly short-sighted as to automatically expose our precious black rockfish population to the predation of the world? Is this not one of our very finest specimens of nature amazingly yet still relatively plentiful, and which most who are fortunate enough to ever see are struck dumb simply to gaze in awe at when thankfully yet still encountered among our reefs?TED GAUNTLETTSandys