Author: Sam

Christmas Party Meeting / AGM – 2012

Dolphins Christmas Party

Firstly I would like to thank you all for the great year. 2012 has been fantastic for most of us and especially for our club as we have won the Alliman Shield!
That is thanks to the all round effort of everyone that competed this year and especially to our Vice President and Sports Sec Parry!
Parry has done a great job this year and we all owe him A BIG THANK YOU!

So to top off this great year we are having a big Christmas Party/Last meeting of 2012/AGM on Tuesday the 18th December, 7:30pm at the clubhouse!

Continue reading Christmas Party Meeting / AGM – 2012

Mangrove Jack Research in NSW

Toby Piddocke from the National Marine Science Centre at Southern Cross University in Coffs Harbour is conducting a three-year research project on the biology and movements of Mangrove Jack in NSW.

We can help with his research by providing any Mangrove Jack frames (filleted skeletons with head and guts intact) we selectively spear. Toby is not asking anyone to kill a Mangrove Jack they would otherwise release or not shoot.

This research covers the entire NSW coastline, so it’s important that frames are collected from as many areas as possible. Of particular interest are frames from Sydney and South Coast.

If you can help and donate a frame, just fillet the fish (please leave head and guts intact), put the frame in a plastic bag (an ordinary shopping bag is fine) and put it in the freezer.

Then contact Toby using the details below, and he will arrange to collect the fish at a time and place convenient for you. Everyone who donates a frame will be eligible to win a ‘mangrove jack research’ t-shirt. Continue reading Mangrove Jack Research in NSW

Information Session: Collaborative research project between USFA and CSIRO

When: Thursday 15 November
Arrive: 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start
Duration: Approx 1 hour including questions
Where: ASHFIELD WESTS LEAGUES CLUB, 115 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield, NSW Sydney Australia (Proceed to level one)
What else: Bring a dive buddy
You will hear:

  • What has really changed since the 60’s?
  • Will these changes affect your future fishing opportunities?
  • Specifically how USFA (spearo) data has contributed to this project.

Continue reading Information Session: Collaborative research project between USFA and CSIRO

2012 Frog Dive Coral Sea trip catches an Australian Black Marlin record

A 230kg ‘pending’ Australian spearfishing record Black Marlin was speared by Andrew (Amod) Moderer on the latest Frog Dive Coral Sea spearfishing trip.

The previous Australian spearfishing record was held by our own Ian ‘Pucko’ Puckeridge coming in at 150kgs caught at Long Reef back in 2007.

The fish was speared with a 1.4m Rob Allen speargun with a Riffe 7.5mm shaft and Riffe slip tip onboard the Eastern Voyager.

Congratulations Amod!
Continue reading 2012 Frog Dive Coral Sea trip catches an Australian Black Marlin record

GoPro Hero3 announced

Allot of divers now use GoPro cameras to capture footage of the fun we have in the water. The smallest GoPro camera yet has just been released. The GoPro Hero3. The Black edition sells for $399 US. It’s certainly more pricy compared to the previous models and I’m not sure if a free diver will really benefit too much. There is a Silver & White edition for $299 and $199 US respectively that miss out on a few features like ultra high resolution and framerate. I really do like the new size and that they have learnt to make a decent underwater housing, for free! A good review can be found at CNET.

For $199 the entry level camera is so cheap, I can see divers heading out with head & gun mount on the same dive. I hope to see some Dolphins sending in footage for all to see 🙂 Be a Hero! Continue reading GoPro Hero3 announced

Roller Spearguns

Emanuel Bova, a Dolphin member, explains the benefits of a roller spear gun and how to modify an existing speargun with a rollergun kit. Benefits include:

  1. Little to no recoil make the gun easier to fire accurately.
  2. A smaller gun length enables you to access caves and swing the gun around more easily/faster in water.
  3.  A large increase of power gives more penetration on the target, faster speed of the shaft and more range of your shot.

Emanuel works for Down Under Spearfishing Charters and more info on Roller Guns can be found on their site.

Ikijime – How to care for your catch

iki jime (ike jime) Humane killing of fish
Ikejime (活け締め) or Ikijime (活き締め) is a method of paralyzing and bleeding fish to maintain its quality. The technique originated in Japan, but is now in widespread use. It involves the insertion of a spike quickly and directly into the hind brain, thereby causing immediate brain death. A fish brain is usually located slightly behind and above the eye. When spiked correctly, the fish fins flare and the fish relaxes, immediately ceasing all motion. The blood contained in the fish flesh retracts to the gut cavity, which produces a better coloured and flavoured fillet. This method seems to minimize the pain.


http://www.ikijime.com/

Samba and Shallow Water Blackouts

Erez Beatus – Free diving coach and former world record holder explaining the risk of Samba & (Shallow Water) Blackout while free diving. Thanks to NSUC & USFA

Samba is a loss of motor control. It is a partial loss of physical or mental integrity and generally occurs up to 15 seconds after reaching the surface, normally during your first breath after a dive. It happens due to not having enough oxygen in your brain.

A Blackout in freediving is often called Shallow Water Blackout (SWB) as it most often occurs while ascending the last few metres of water. It happens due to lack of oxygen due to rapid changes in pressure.

Very briefly, it is thought that Hyperventilation is the leading cause of blackout as it lowers the amount of CO2 in your body which lessens the urge to breathe. The Shallow Water Blackout Wiki explains this all in much more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_water_blackout

Mulloway Submissions for DPI

Guys below is a link where you can read about current views on salvaging the Mulloway fishery and the ability to have your say on the Mulloway. The document mentions to us that they are seriously considering having a bag limit of one over 70cm. That is not on for spearfishers (not me anyway). I personally think 2 over 75cm would be good. Once over 75cm there is a very good chance the fish has spawned at least once.
Anyway great if you could read the views and have a comment, it is informative reading for you and on the bottom of the document there is a link where you can complete an online submission, mark your interest as spearfishing ; )

Frequently-asked-questions-and-options-for-management-changes.doc

Online Submission Form

Good hunting!
Simon Trippe

This Is Your Last Chance To Stop The Lock Up!

 Sorry to have to get all political again here guys, but recreational fishermen are about to get locked out of massive areas of Australian waters. And all this while the federal Government has given the green light to a super trawler so it can plunder our waters! What’s happening here is just plain wrong, and we need to all get together to stop it. Marine reserves should be implemented with proper scientific planning and processes, and that is just not happening. In just a few days on September 10, we’ll be locked out of huge areas of Australian waters unless we stand up and say no. The only way to try and stop this is to take 60 seconds and make a very quick submission through the Keep Australia Fishing website to lodge your protest. People power is the only way to make the politicians take notice here. Please share this link on all your own Facebook pages, and spread the word!

http://www.keepaustraliafishing.com.au/index.php/take-action/campaigns/campaign-1-don-t-lock-us-out

Simon Trippe

 

An update 11th Sept 2012: Environment Minister Tony Burke accused of trashing marine science after slapping a ban on super trawler Abel Tasman

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/labor-to-ban-super-trawler-abel-tasman-from-australian-waters/story-e6frfm1i-1226471683034#ixzz268tHatxT