Spear guns and diving

[sailaboutvic]

Some may be interested to know carrying a spear guy as well as diving gear is iilegal in some EU country .
It seen you may carry one or the other ,
One boat have now had both equipment taken and may have to appear in court with possible fine .

I tho it worth bring this to the attention of those or carry both , all the years we sailed in th Med and it's the first time I heard about it , although I do know in some countries you are only aloud to dive with a club .
This happen on Corsica.

 

[alexsailor]

It is the same in Croatia. Not sure about Greece but in Greece they are alergic to scuba diving gear (many wrecks...).. I carry full diving gear and full speargun fishing gear. Plus gear for tuna fishing which is also not alowed in Greece (probably nobody knows that- so hide away all those dry tuna tails hanging around) and Croatia. But just put all those thing somewhere nobody will find it. I do not scuba dive and fish at the same time to be clear. But tell that to stupid officers...

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

I have a distant memory that the BSAC or PADI have a country by country list of these rules.
When I used to go down with my dad, a long time ago, using a CO2 gun and squashed air bottles at the same time was considered jolly unsporting, like stalking deer with a Bren gun..

 

[OldBawley]

Don´t know about legality of spear fishing, I still hunt for octopus using a wooden pole with a triton on it. With gear and money been more available I see more and more fully equipped snorkelling hunters. Last week, in a small bay on Hydra not bigger than a football field ten (10 ) of them ware searching for fish. I still wonder how they don´t shoot the other guys with their compressed air spear guns.
Some have fins a metre long, are completely covered in camouflage wetsuits and even have electric propulsion. Some of those camouflage suits are so good you just see the goggles. And their eyes.

Back in the days in Turkey I knew two guys hunting professionally for lobster. They ware never caught by the coast guard, although everyone knew what they ware up to. Sold to the bay restaurants.
Every time the Coast guard vessel visited the bay ( and restaurant ) they left with a package under their arm.

 

[Tony Cross]

I'm not completely sure of the law (or custom) in Greece on this. I do know of many sailors in Greece who carry both scuba gear and spear guns but I've never heard of anyone being challenged because of that. Although, as we all know, it's rare for a boat to be inspected that closely, which might be why nobody has been caught. I do know that if they see you in the water with scuba gear and a spear gun you are likely to be in some trouble.

 

[Portofino]

Some places are designated nature reserves.
There’s no blindingly obvious signs and it’s easy to forget you are in one or around one after a few days .
You can only scuba dive in designated places in them with designated clubs / guides who operate the dive boats .
Naturally wild life is protected .
As mentioned tuna and other fish have seasons and probably licensed as well .

You have just gotta be careful what you are doing , when and where .

I used to have a spear gun ,but it broke and I never replaced it .
I have a dive bottle for stern gear hygiene. So conscious of that activity being miss interpreted by over jealous officials out to “do “ red ensigns .

 

[Irish Rover]

Slightly off topic but
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/marmaris-bay-dedicated-to-sharks-for-protection-145725

 

[grumpygit]

I'm not completely sure of the law (or custom) in Greece on this. I do know of many sailors in Greece who carry both scuba gear and spear guns but I've never heard of anyone being challenged because of that. Although, as we all know, it's rare for a boat to be inspected that closely, which might be why nobody has been caught. I do know that if they see you in the water with scuba gear and a spear gun you are likely to be in some trouble.

As far as I am aware one needs a special permit in Greece to use bottles. Free diving with a spear gun is allowed.
You are right though, if the PP see you, you'll wish they hadn't.
There biggest no,no is the finding, removing and the taking of ancient artifacts, this is definitely a serious position to be in.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I don't know now but when we first arrived in Greece many years ago , there was no diving with bottles unless you was with a diving club or school .
How I know this , because two days in Greece we had one hell of a problem just having bottles on boards , lucky we was loud to keep them but we had to empty all the air out .
Since then we not carried bottle just a power dive .

 

[longjohnsilver]

I have a distant memory that the BSAC or PADI have a country by country list of these rules.
When I used to go down with my dad, a long time ago, using a CO2 gun and squashed air bottles at the same time was considered jolly unsporting, like stalking deer with a Bren gun..

Not only unsporting, but if diving with a buddy, as most people do, it’s downright dangerous.

Spearguns should be for snorkelling or free diving only.

 

[Tony Cross]

As far as I am aware one needs a special permit in Greece to use bottles.

I don't actually know, I've never dived.

Free diving with a spear gun is allowed.

Yep that's absolutely true.

There biggest no,no is the finding, removing and the taking of ancient artifacts, this is definitely a serious position to be in.

Indeed. It's also wise to not have any 'artifacts' on your boat when in Greece, even if you collected them from another country. And if you happen to have any of the Elgin Marbles on your boat you'll never be heard from again....!

 

[Davy_S]

You can spearfish in Greece without bottles, (free diving, snorkelling) be careful to check what time of year you are allowed to fish, some months it is illegal, and you WILL be arrested, you are also limited to the amount of fish you are allowed to land, i had a boat fishing licence, plus the boat was registered for fishing, i could only land two fish (per person) or risk a fine.
A brit was arrested for spearfishing in the Sami area, out of season (close season) he got off with the help of locals and a plea that he did not understand the rules

 

[One A.]

After living in Corsica for 10 years laws are merely guide lines at best.

 

[lask]

A. Free-diving spearfishing is permitted without a bottle and without permission (because it has been abolished).
B. You are allowed to have a respirator (bottle) in your boat for emergency situations (damage below the boat) and you must have a padi when the P.P. To dive
C. Bottling and spearfishing together is prohibited.

D. Bottle diving is prohibited without permission by P.P. And in specific places (due to the many ancient sites on the sea of ​​Greece)
E. Now if you got inside the boat and speargun
And a dive bottle is something that P.P. Cannot know it because especially in vessels flying the flag outside Greece (means of inspection) there must be documents from many different departments - Embassies.
Hope to help you, now with P.P. Here in Greece he wants a lot of attention because many of them are unfortunately shepherds and not sailors as they should be.

 

[Tony Cross]

And a dive bottle is something that P.P. Cannot know it because especially in vessels flying the flag outside Greece (means of inspection) there must be documents from many different departments - Embassies.

I was told by a port police sergeant (about five years ago I'll admit) that the port police cannot board your vessel whilst it is in a port without your permission. However, the coastguard (really the same organisation now) can board you at sea (in Greek waters) without your permission. I have no idea whether that has ever been tested in court.

 

[lask]

For us Greeks to come aboard we must have a document from a judicial authority. When they want to check they don't even get on board

 

[OldBawley]

I have some experience with the Turkish coast guard.

We have wintered 11 years in Turkey, never a marina, just bay´s and from time to time a town to shop.
Only three liveaboard “wild” boats in those days so the Coastguard took a pleasure in chequeing in on us. Sometimes every two days. Always very polite and correct except for the small Turkish flag that even if it was just a day old had to be renewed.
One day I was anchored in Kapi bay, my wife was at home so I was the boss now and could do whatever I wanted. Coastguard came, second time in two days. The bigger boat stayed out and a smaller rib came into the bay and wanted the “Papers”
In the rib 4 kids with machine guns and open mouths and one not much older guy with some stripes. I decided to pull some comedy. I took their lanyard, fed it trough a rope fair-led and then tied it to the eye of the main sheet in the middle of the cockpit.
Got my papers, the officer looked trough them, probably not understanding anything of them because the are in French. All the time while he was browsing my papers I acted nuts. I am very good at it, my son and wife walk 10 yards behind me in towns, they don't want to be acquainted with the nut I sometimes play. The trick is talking. I start talking in my Flemish accent. Very loud, very fast and without ever stopping. I can talk about anything, nobody understands me. I can even insult people in their face, as long as I keep a smile on my face they have no clue.
I noticed that the machine gun carrying kids started looking elsware, so I knew my trick was working. Then the officer asked to loosen the lanyard, so they could go away. He wanted away so bad he forgot to mention I needed a new red Flag.
I carried on talking gibberish, schouwed them everything I had in my toolbox, sometimes laughing silly but not letting them go.
Then the officer ordered a kid to get onboard with me and loosen their rope.
I shouted “ OOOHHHH; NONONO “ and wiggled my finger. They all looked astonished, knew not what to do.
Finely I let them go, all the time talking or more like shouting Flemish and smiling, never leave a gap where they can say anything. Just don´t give them a chance.

Those guys ware learned, never came back. But then sometimes some other patrol boat came.

The coastguard from Göcek never chequed on me again. Word must have gone round.

 

[KellysEye]

Spear gun fishing is allowed in Trinidad and Tobago but I dn't know about the rest of the Caribbean.

 

[DownWest]

I was launching off the Albufeira fishermans's beach and the marines came over to look at what I was up to. See ing the dive bottles, they asked what I was fishing for. Clearly a trick question, I told them that it was illegal to fish with scuba gear and it was to lay the mooring. They were a bit dissapointed.... I told them that it was a good 'try' and they had the grace to smile. Back then, it was a small place and we sort of knew each other, so these were not unusual exchanges. The locals were ignored in the infractions, but as a furriner, I would be fair game for a fine.

 

[Graham376]

I was launching off the Albufeira fishermans's beach and the marines came over to look at what I was up to.

Scuba in Ria Formosa is banned without license from PM who won't issue to recreational divers. Up to €1k fine and confiscation of gear if caught.