Before you spearfish — this comes first
- Get proper instruction before you spearfish. A recognised freediving or spearfishing course teaches the things that actually kill people in this sport, and reading about them is not the same as being taught them.
- Dive with a buddy, and dive one up, one down — one diver in the water, one on the surface watching them, every dive. A breath-hold blackout is silent and gives no warning; a watching buddy is the difference between an incident and a fatality.
- Stay inside your own training and experience. Depth and breath-hold times are personal, they change day to day, and nobody else's numbers apply to you.
- Understand the conditions before you enter the water: visibility, current, swell, tide, boat traffic and your exit. Conditions decide whether a dive is reasonable far more often than skill does.
- Use equipment you have been shown how to use, check it before every session, and be visible — a marked float and line are how boat traffic knows you are there.
- Never extend a dive for a fish. No catch is worth pushing a breath-hold, and the urge to take one more second is exactly what a blackout feels like from the inside — which is to say, like nothing at all.
Deciding not to shoot
Explainer · Last reviewed 2026-08-13
Spearfishing is the most selective fishing method there is, which means every fish taken was chosen. The decision not to shoot is the skill that follows from that, and it is the one least often taught.
Safety
Fish welfare — Can cause injury needing treatment
This record is about the shot declined, and its hazard is what happens when it is not. A shot taken at long range, at an oblique angle, into soft body tissue, at an unidentified fish or at a fish beside structure produces an animal that is hit, tears off and dies unrecovered — uncounted against any limit and invisible to the fishery.
What reduces it: Treat uncertainty about species, size, angle or range as a refusal rather than as a risk to weigh, and match the tip to the quarry before the bag is packed. A fish declined at a bad angle is very often the same fish, twenty seconds later, at a good one.
Shallow water blackout and breath-hold loss of consciousness — Can cause serious injury or death
Waiting for the shot to improve is the correct decision and it is also the mechanism that extends a breath-hold. The judgement to decline and the judgement to surface arrive at the same moment and pull in opposite directions.
What reduces it: Decide the dive time on the surface and surface on it. Declining a fish and surfacing are the same decision, not alternatives to one another.
Precautions that always apply here
- Never spearfish or freedive alone.
- Dive one up, one down: one diver down, one on the surface actively watching, every single dive.
Every other method in this catalogue takes what it catches. A net takes what enters it, a baited hook takes what finds it, a trawl takes what is in front of it. Spearfishing is different in a way that is genuinely unusual: THE FISH IS IDENTIFIED, SIZED AND CHOSEN BEFORE ANYTHING HAPPENS.
That is the method's great advantage. There is no bycatch, no undersized discard, no fish killed accidentally, and no hooking mortality. A spearfisher can decline a fish for any reason and the fish is entirely unharmed.
AND IT IS ALSO THE METHOD'S ENTIRE BURDEN, because it removes every excuse. A netter can say the fish came up in the gear. A spearfisher cannot: there is no version of a speared fish that was not selected. That makes selectivity the whole of the ethics of this discipline, and it means the useful skill is not marksmanship but judgement.
THERE IS ALSO NO RELEASE. A speared fish is a killed fish. Every other method in this catalogue permits a change of mind after capture; this one does not. The decision is made in the water, on a breath, in seconds, with the fish about to leave — which is the worst set of conditions imaginable for a considered judgement, and precisely why the criteria have to be settled beforehand.
WHAT THAT MEANS IN PRACTICE is that a diver arrives at a site already knowing what they will and will not take, rather than working it out while aiming. The decision has been made on the boat. What happens underwater is recognition against a decision already reached.
AND THE SPECIES-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE IS WHERE IT LIVES. Large slow-growing fish, sex-changing species where the big fish are one sex, aggregating species during their aggregation, and anything whose local population is visibly thin are all cases where taking the fish that is easiest to take is the worst available option — and every one of those is knowable in advance from the biology rather than discoverable in the moment.
THIS RECORD IS NOT A RULEBOOK AND CANNOT BE. What may legally be taken, where, at what size, in what number and in what season is current, local information that this platform does not state. What generalises is the structure of the judgement, and that is what follows.
The categories worth deciding about before entering the water
A useful way to hold this is as a small number of recurring situations, each of which has a reason attached. None of these is a rule — the rules are local — and all of them are reasoning that transfers.
THE FISH YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY. If the species is not certain, the shot is not available. Identification underwater is harder than on a page: colour shifts with depth and light, size is distorted by water and mask, and many closely related species differ in details that are not visible at range. A protected species mistaken for a common one is a protected species killed.
THE FISH THAT IS TOO BIG FOR A REASON. On slow-growing, long-lived species the largest individuals are old, irreplaceable on any human timescale, and disproportionately productive — fecundity scales steeply with size. On protogynous species such as dusky grouper and ballan wrasse the large fish are the males, so taking them removes the breeding males specifically. Taking the biggest fish feels like the achievement and is frequently the most damaging option available.
THE FISH IN AN AGGREGATION. Species that gather predictably to spawn concentrate a wide area's reproductive adults into one place at one time. A diver who finds an aggregation has found the population's reproductive capacity, and fishing it removes far more than the number of fish suggests. Recognising an aggregation for what it is, and leaving it, is among the most consequential decisions in this discipline.
THE FISH IN A HOLE YOU CANNOT RECOVER IT FROM. A grouper or a wrasse shot in structure that runs deeper into the reef is frequently lost, and a lost fish with a shaft wound is an animal killed for nothing. If the shot cannot be placed where it will stop the fish before it reaches cover, it should not be taken.
THE FISH YOU WILL NOT EAT. Taking more than will be used is the simplest failure and the most common. A bag limit is a maximum rather than a target.
THE FISH ON A DEPLETED MARK. Site-attached species on a specific piece of reef are a local population that is not restocked from elsewhere. A mark that used to hold fish and now holds few is telling you something, and the response that helps is to fish elsewhere.
AND THE FISH THAT IS SIMPLY TOO EASY. Species that do not flee divers — because they are curious, territorial, or in a place with no fishing pressure — are not offering a fair proposition, and their unwariness is exactly why they disappear first from accessible coastlines.
Authoritative guidance
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
- Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations: Biology, Research and Management — Springer, Fish & Fisheries Series vol. 35, 2012 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: The biology of reef fish spawning aggregations, their predictability, and the disproportionate effect of fishing them on a population's reproductive output.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fear of fishers: human predation explains behavioral changes in coral reef fishes — PLoS ONE 6(8): e22761, 2011 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fish alter their behaviour and flight response in relation to spearfishing pressure, and that this differs between protected and fished areas.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Life history, growth rate, longevity, sex-change pattern and habitat association recorded for the species concerned.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment and population trend, and the life-history traits that determine sensitivity to size-selective removal.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Why restraint is the only conservation tool this discipline has
Almost every other fishery has instruments that operate independently of the individual's judgement. Gear can be made more selective — mesh sizes, escape gaps, hook types, descending devices. Effort can be limited by licensing. Discards can be regulated. Post-capture decisions can be made because the animal is still alive.
SPEARFISHING HAS NONE OF THAT. The gear is a shaft and it is not more or less selective depending on its design. There is no release. There is no incidental catch to manage. There is no equipment change that reduces impact, because the impact is entirely a function of which fish a person chose to shoot.
WHICH MEANS THE DIVER'S OWN LIMITS ARE THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, and that is not a rhetorical flourish. A regulation sets an outer boundary; within it, everything is decided by judgement. Two divers on the same reef under the same rules can have completely different effects.
THE EVIDENCE THAT THIS MATTERS IS DIRECT. Fish alter their behaviour in response to spearfishing pressure — flight initiation distances are measurably greater in fished areas than in protected ones, and the effect is species-specific and strongest in the species most targeted. That is a population changing its behaviour in response to being hunted, and it is why unwary species disappear first from accessible coastlines and why the presence of large, approachable grouper is used as an indicator of effective protection.
THE DISCIPLINE'S OWN CULTURE HAS LARGELY ARRIVED AT THIS. The shift away from competitions scored by weight, the adoption of voluntary size limits above legal ones, the practice of leaving known aggregation sites alone, and the general move toward taking few fish are all things the community did rather than things imposed on it — and they are what the activity's long-term legitimacy rests on.
WHICH MAKES THE FRAMING WORTH STATING PLAINLY: in a discipline where every fish is chosen, choosing well is not an optional refinement. It is the entire practice.
Scientific evidence
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
- Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations: Biology, Research and Management — Springer, Fish & Fisheries Series vol. 35, 2012 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: The biology of reef fish spawning aggregations, their predictability, and the disproportionate effect of fishing them on a population's reproductive output.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fear of fishers: human predation explains behavioral changes in coral reef fishes — PLoS ONE 6(8): e22761, 2011 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fish alter their behaviour and flight response in relation to spearfishing pressure, and that this differs between protected and fished areas.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where to go next
Where it matters
What these connections rest on (1)
Authoritative guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Spearfishing
A membership assertion rather than a topical one: this record teaches the discipline or its equipment, so the discipline's mandatory safety posture applies to it.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing as a defined discipline with its own technical, equipment and safety standards, set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: That the safety requirements of breath-hold diving apply across the discipline rather than to particular equipment or techniques within it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
The explanation behind a practice, joined to the surface a reader arrives at so that the reasoning is reachable rather than orphaned.
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety, the mechanism of hypoxic blackout, and the requirement for direct supervision by a competent buddy on every dive.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- AIDA International freediving education and safety standards — AIDA International (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Recognised freediving education and safety standards, including buddy procedure and the one-up-one-down principle.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Related reading
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
A fish that comes off, and what you owe it
One record resolves a question the other raises and cannot answer alone.
- CMAS technical and sporting standards for underwater activities — Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (Standards body)Relied on for: Breath-hold spearfishing as a defined discipline with its own technical, equipment and safety standards, set out by the international underwater federation.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: That the safety requirements of breath-hold diving apply across the discipline rather than to particular equipment or techniques within it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How this compares
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Lookalike species, and why uncertainty means do not shoot
Two records a reader would reasonably weigh against one another, joined where reading both teaches something neither says alone.
- BSAC diving safety guidance and annual incident report — British Sub-Aqua Club (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Recreational diving safety practice including buddy procedure, surface marking, planning and the decision to abort.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety guidance including the buddy system, one-up one-down procedure and recovery from breath-hold incidents.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Environment and conservation
What these connections rest on (1)
Authoritative guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Selectivity and what it is used for
A conservation consequence of the method, joined to the environmental topic that frames it, rather than a hazard to the diver.
- DAN guidance on freediving safety, hypoxia and shallow-water blackout — Divers Alert Network (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Freediving safety, the mechanism of hypoxic blackout, and the requirement for direct supervision by a competent buddy on every dive.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- AIDA International freediving education and safety standards — AIDA International (Water-safety or diver-training authority)Relied on for: Recognised freediving education and safety standards, including buddy procedure and the one-up-one-down principle.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Check the rules before you fish
Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.
Check with:
- Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
- Current local bylaws
- The relevant fisheries authority
- The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
- Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use
Sources for this page
- Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations: Biology, Research and Management — Springer, Fish & Fisheries Series vol. 35, 2012 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: The biology of reef fish spawning aggregations, their predictability, and the disproportionate effect of fishing them on a population's reproductive output.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Fear of fishers: human predation explains behavioral changes in coral reef fishes — PLoS ONE 6(8): e22761, 2011 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: That fish alter their behaviour and flight response in relation to spearfishing pressure, and that this differs between protected and fished areas.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1995 (Standards body)Relied on for: Principles of responsible fishing practice, including selectivity, the return of undersized and berried animals, and avoiding damage to habitat.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Stock and method assessment for shellfish and finfish taken recreationally and commercially, and the measures applied to them.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.