Some people who are considering taking up spearfishing or are interested in it have concerns about the ethics behind it. It’s understandable because the fish are certain to die the brunt of death. However, when compared with almost any other method to get meat, spearfishing is just as ethical as any other method you’ll come across.
To answer these questions, however, we do need to add one caution. Spearfishing will only be as ethical as the person who does it.
Is spearfishing ethical?
If you don’t believe that killing and eating animals is wrong If you believe that killing and eating animals is wrong, then the answer to this question is that spearfishing is an ethical act. I’ll go into more detail about the humaneness and eco-friendliness of spearfishing below and hunter-gathering is something humans have done since before the time that we evolved as a species.
An ethical spearo, with proper spearfishing gear, can pass up shots on fragile species, often letting even fish that are prized create more offspring. They may also be selective, removing just one or two of any specie from a specific location before moving elsewhere. Spearfishing, if done properly, is a sign of sustainability. It involves taking a tiny number of fish while letting the fishery sustain itself and grow.
Is spearfishing humane?
The morality of spearfishing influences the moral question, but I think it’s its own issue. There’s some debate regarding the degree of pain fish really feel, but for the sake of this argument, we will ignore it completely and presume that their survival instinct as well as an intense aversion to death are itself a kind of pain.
Here’s how a salmon dies if it is taken by a responsible spearfisherman. A fish gets shot, and the shaft of the spear goes through its body. Usually, the shaft will go through the brain and the fish will immediately die. If not, the spearo has to fight the fish. An experienced spearo will then put a knife through the fish’s brain to kill it. This is done both for ethical reasons and to improve its meat quality.
In the case of a smaller fish death usually comes within a minute of being shot. When it comes to bigger game fish the fight may last for a longer time and may last for up to ten minutes before its demise. Similar is the case with rod and reel fishing, however, there is the argument that hooking by one’s mouth will be much less damaging than being hit by a spear.