Had a bad experience today

[sdbr911]

So I went diving this morning - took out a gun and a lobster bag. Conditions were as good as ever for shore diving here. No surf, glassy as far as you can see, no wind, minimal current, top to bottom vis in 20ft of water, a great day. I was having a really enjoyable dive.

I was diving near the traps (they always put them on the good spots.) I have learned that during lobster season you have to stay extra alert for boats when shorediving because these guys seem to have no regard for divers when baiting and retrieving traps. Every couple of times I come to the surface I take a good look around to make sure no boats are coming.

Today I come up and see this lobster boat coming straight for me, so I stay on the surface and watch him. He keeps coming......... finally I hold my gun up (handle first) just so he can see me. He waves to acknowledge, and I think all is good. He keeps coming....and pulls up right next to me. "Have you been robbing my traps?" he says. I say, "No, I've got an empty bag, I haven't gotten any today." He says, "Well the first trap I pulled up has been robbed, somebody has been robbing me!" I say, "Well it wasn't me, I don't know what to tell you, have a nice day."

He speeds off, but continues to do circles in the area while checking traps, all very close to me. Now I don't even want to dive down, because I'm afraid of this guy running me over when I come up. Normally, when boat drivers see a diver, they will steer clear. The lobster boats don't care if there are divers.

When I am shorediving and there is a lobster boat nearby, I don't feel safe. I don't think these guys care much about watching out for divers - only about retrieving traps. You all know what it is like when you are 30 feet down and you hear the sound of a boat engine. Every time I went down and came back up, he was too close for comfort. This guy pretty much ruined my dive. I never felt comfortable going down again unless I moved in to less than 10 feet of water. I had been trying to line up with a certain spot that holds fish/lobster for almost an hour, I finally found it, and then he ran me off.

I know that some of you will say it was my fault for diving near the traps, but all of my good shoredive spots now have traps all over. I guess I am just expressing frustration.

I don't trust these guys to pay attention or care about running me over. Plenty of times I have been diving and made myself visible to a kayaker or boater and they will stay clear of me once they see me. The commercial lobster guys just don't care. They expect you to get out of their way. They think that since they have traps out, it should be their water and you should stay out of their way.

I hesitate posting this because I don't want to start an argument about commercial vs. recreational, etc. But this guy pissed me off.

Moral of the story = watch out for these guys. They might run you over!

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by sdbr911

I know that some of you will say it was my fault for diving near the traps, but all of my good shoredive spots now have traps all over. I guess I am just expressing frustration.

I don't trust these guys to pay attention or care about running me over. Plenty of times I have been diving and made myself visible to a kayaker or boater and they will stay clear of me once they see me. The commercial lobster guys just don't care. They expect you to get out of their way. They think that since they have traps out, it should be their water and you should stay out of their way.

I hesitate posting this because I don't want to start an argument about commercial vs. recreational, etc. But this guy pissed me off.

Moral of the story = watch out for these guys. They might run you over!

I sure as hell don't blame you. As you said, its damn near impossible to dive for lobster without diving near traps.

Many years ago (at least 20) I was down near San Onofre idling around looking for some structure on the depth sounder. Sure enough, I found some structure right next to some traps. We went diving, and while we saw lot of lobster in the traps, we only go one between us.

When we got back to the harbor and tied up to the dock at the lauch ramp, a guy walked up and demanded to see our catch. I told him that unless he had a DFG badge, he was going to have a hard job getting me to show him my catch. It turned out he was a commercial lobster trapper and had been sitting up on the cliff with binoculars watching for people poaching his traps, which had marked lobster in them.

When we finally cooled off a bit, I let him see my one barely legal lobster.

On the other hand, I guess these guys wouldn't be so suspicious of us if it were not for divers stealing their lobsters. You and I get to suffer because of the assholes among us.

But at the risk of being classist, I don't find that the majority of these trappers are exaclty the salt of the earth themselves. Maybe they are basically thieves and therefore expect all of us to be like them.

[XLTChris]

Is something like that reportable? Like to the coast guard or something?

[DanielG]

I think part of the problem is that commercial lobster fishermen assume there are plenty of other areas for divers to dive, so any diver near their traps must be stealing. But the reality is that most popular dive spots/reefs always have traps on them, so avoiding them is nearly impossible.

[sdbr911]

Originally Posted by XLTChris

Is something like that reportable? Like to the coast guard or something?

I don't know if it's reportable. I don't think either of us did anything legally wrong. It's just frustrating, but I know that we are all sharing the same ocean.

I heard somewhere that commercial traps are only allowed to be set in water 25 feet deep or greater, but I'm not even sure if that is right. I did many searches on google today and couldn't find the regulations for commercial trapping. I'm just curious what they're supposed to be doing. All I found is regs for recreational divers.

[Kingspear]

what would be the best way to handle a situation if a commercial trapper demands to inspect you catch or accuses you or taking from his trap? I have actually heard of this happening and have also had trappers intimidate me into leaving an area.

[stickitfishy]

Stealing is wrong so cut the bouys on that guys traps and free his lobsters. Screw him. They are your lobster to get not his to sell. That is what is ethical!

[IB Boyd]

Originally Posted by stickitfishy

Stealing is wrong so cut the bouys on that guys traps and free his lobsters. Screw him. They are your lobster to get not his to sell. That is what is ethical!

And thats the kind of actions that gets the lobstermen pissed off to start with. Why are they yours and not his? Before anybody vandalizes or steals from somebody, remember, they are trying to feed a family also.

Its very frustrating that they think we are all theives..and also that the traps are over every peice of structure in the pacific....but dont f&%#k with the traps. Thats just plain theft.

[dmay]

Isn't there a huge fine for messing with traps? Or is that little sign just something they put on their traps to scare divers away?

[fishkilla]

Originally Posted by sdbr911

He keeps coming......... finally I hold my gun up (handle first) just so he can see me.

i bet he'd pay more attention to you if you held it up with the other end pointed at him.

commercial fisherman can be a tuff group to deal with especially if some one is stealing their lobsters (money) i would pay attention to his registration numbers and report him as soon as you get back in. there is no reason for him to be life threatening. if you develope a relationship with your local coast guard station through honest even handed reports on what is going on out there when there is a problem they will be more likely to take your side and protect you from wack jobs like this guy.

[mocean]

you can be shot on spot for taking maine lobster

[Kingspear]

what do you mean you can be shot on spot? not legally. if I see a guy breaking in to my car I can't even legally shot him.

[EL TIBURON]

Ive had a few close calls with the Commercial Lobster guys throughout Laguna in past years. Very similar to what you described with them comming straight at you without any regard for safety and then accusing me of raiding their traps. Ive had flying gaffs as well as their hooks thrown out at me thats when you do what FishKilla suggested and point 63" of steel at them.
I understand theese guys frustration as they put in long hours throughout their season only to have their catch stolen by unscrupulous theives...but their renegade attitudes
towards divers in their area is uneeded.

[Scottywotty]

Hey guys,

I've been on both sides of this fence, CommercialXXXXXXXXXrecreational
and I can see both sides maybe a little more clearly than some, and I can
certainly see this issue is never going to go away. One little trick I've always
used when approached by a commercial is to #1 be freindly, You'de be surprised, most of these guys are just the same as you and I, and they work just as hard as you do to feed your family. #2 be helpful, Ask the fishermen
if you might be able to help him find any lost equipment(since your in the water anyway) this really breaks the ice! and gives us freedivers a good name w/ them. Oddly enough, most of the commercials I've met don't dive!
Go figure? Often time the guy is so happy to get his gear back that he may even grace you w/ a gift of lobsters!

Oh, by the way, if any of you guys ever come accross an abandoned, lost, or a trap that is out of season
it would be a good idea to rip the doors off or at least open them. Often the fishermen will not use the right materials in their doors and they remain catching /killing machines, until the trap finally rots away.

I once found a trap in like April or May and it was so full of bugs it was sad there were some dead ones in there that the others were feeding on and every speck of growth on the mesh was picked clean from the starving animals.

[sdbr911]

Scotty I agree with you. That's why I didn't point my gun at him - I just raised the handle so I would be seen. I was nice to him, and he was a dick.

I have also seen traps that were half buried in the sand, out of season, and packed with bugs and crabs. Very sad.

Anyway, my point was.....just be careful out there. The normal courtesy of staying clear of divers doesn't seem to apply to these guys.