Menu Close

Protected fish less shy of spearguns

Fish are not as dumb as people sometimes think and marine scientists have found that fish that are regularly hunted with spearguns are much more wary and keep their distance from fishers.

In investigating the effects of marine areas closed to fishing by customary laws, an international team of researchers working in the Pacific found that fish exposed to speargun fishing take flight much earlier when a diver approaches compared with those living in protected zones.

Their study took place at Muluk in Papua New Guinea where the local chiefs close areas of reef to fishing, sometimes for several years at a time, whenever it seems the fish are becoming a bit shy.

Read more at James Cook University

Want to write?

Write an article and join a growing community of more than 181,000 academics and researchers from 4,921 institutions.

Register now