Posted by Jim Hoffmann on April 11, 2001 at 08:53:41:
Johnny Walker and I have been diving in this area for a long time, one of the subjects that keeps coming up is the lack of marine life in places that 15 years ago were teaming
with life. Looking at most of our dive area’s now we only find a desert and with a few garibald’s.
We have been asking ourselves, why is this happening? One only has to look at how irresponsible the diving community has been with our ocean environment to see part of the cause. We have watched some dive club’s go on search and destroy mission, killing
and taking almost every living thing. We have seen the ab’s go extinct in So. Cal.( I know they were supposed to have been killed by withering foot disease, but how many shorts were taken off of rocks and not put back or were cut ).We here about opening night boat
trips taking hundreds of lobster on just one boat (lobster seem to have maintained there population, but is it wise to slaughter so many). Just in the few years that we have been
diving the Hogan we have seen that whole Eco system destroyed. Those of you that have been diving for a while, take a look around, is it better this year then last?
Maybe it’s time to stop taking from the ocean. I know that won’t do anything for the pollution, or the lost of estuary, or the Sport boats that kill hundreds of fish every weekend, or for the commercial boats that kill millions, but at lest in the area’s we dive there will still be fish stock. Look at the underwater park at Avalon, that’s the way front side Catalina looked 30 years ago, that’s the way Divers Cove looked 30 years ago. Why is this park so full of life? Because no one is fishing in the park, no one is spearfishing in the park, no one is taking anything in the park!!!!!
It’s time to stop taking, it’s time for the diving community to be responsible. So here is a small step: as of April 11 Scuba Toys will no longer sell any spearfishing equipment, or allow spearfishing on our charter boats. I know this may hurt the business, but you know I
don’t care, I would like my grandson to be able to dive in 10years (when he is twelve) and see what I saw in 1969.
All great things happen with just a small step how many of you are willing to take that step to help preserve what is left of our underwater environment.
Jim Hoffmann
Scuba Toys