Search Results

WELCOME! Whether you are just getting ready to dip your toes in the water, or have already come face to face with some fish, we at Emerald Freediving are so thrilled to share our knowledge and passion with you about this incredible way to be in our oceans. Continue through each section for all you need to know to start your Spearfishing and Underwater Foraging journey! COURSE LAYOUT This course is full of important information, helpful tips and tricks, cautions, and hopefully a bit of craic regarding all foundational things related to Spearfishing and Underwater Foraging! We will be giving an in-depth overview into beginner spearfishing techniques, safety, equipment, regulations, and identification, best practice. The information pertaining to the natural environment is geared toward UK and Irish waters. Each section includes the main seminar video where your instructor, Dave McGowan, teaches and expands more thoroughly on some of the written information also provided in each section, such as this right here. It is important that you watch the seminar, as it includes a lot of important info that is not included in the text summary. Each section includes an audio recording of the seminar, if you ever want to listen back but do not need the accompanying slide-show images. There are “Cheat Sheets” available in all sections as well, with key information that can be printed or downloaded to your phone for quick reference. And finally, of course it wouldn’t be an official course without a few quizzes, right? We promise to keep them as fun as possible. They are provided to ensure your acquisition of knowledge. And some good craic promised to be had upon completion! MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR Paragraph here about Dave!! Who Dave is etc, Maybe change here from “we” to “I?” Meet him in the next section - in our first seminar of the course!

HURRAH! We have made it to the fun, hands-on schtuff! In this section of the course, we'll be covering a few main starting plants and animals that are a great way to begin your sustainable underwater foraging practice. We'll be covering in detail the species of seaweed, shellfish, and crustaceans. But this section just touches on the vast array of amazing things available for us to forage on along our Irish shores. What we cover here however is far from an exhaustive list. One major point here is also that you do not need a speargun to look and find these foods! Starting with what is listed in this section of the course will help you become more comfortable in the water, using your skills, learning how to be in these eco-systems, and stay safe until you are ready for a gun. As always, do your research to stay healthy, legal, and sustainable!

True or False: Shoot First, ask questions later? Bit of double edged joke to start off here, but we can't get into talking about spearfishing without mentioning this. And we hope by now the answer is obvious! It is absolutely not a good idea to target practice with live fish, especially if you cannot yet identify fish confidently (which does not just include identifying what kind of fish, but also what size, and season, etc.). Not only are some fish vulnerable, but some fish are also illegal. If you get into the water and ask 'What fish is this that I killed?' then you need to take a step back, study some fish ID books for Ireland and the UK, Google some things, ask questions on the Social local spearo groups before getting back in the water. We are hopeful that this section of the course will help prevent this from happening!

Spearfishing Basic Guidelines, Ethical Code & Golden Rule Feel free to download each section's cheat sheets for quick reference to important course information:

[INSERT SAFETY SEMINAR HERE] [INSERT PHOTOS INTO SEMINAR] WHERE TO GO Sandy beaches (maybe add explanation field is like forest, and sandy beaches like the field/plain) Rocky shorelines Small bays NOT fresh water – inc. rivers! River mouths are okay - consider temperature and vis) Can bring nutrients so can be fishy East coast vs west coast FORESHORE SAFETY Entry and Exit Shore diving Tide height - seasonal tides can be up to 8m in some places Currents Boat diving Slip ramp launch times, etc. IN-WATER SAFETY Consider: Boat traffic pot-lines nets & other marine debris Mitigate the risk: You’re not going to be the only one using that body of water so prepare for that. Stay away from other water users, boats, swimmers etc. Dive knives ( * 2 minimum.) Floats Flags HELPFUL APPS Windy Weather Fishingapp.gps Webapp.navionics More? Links [INSERT APPS HERE|

Download Equipment Checklist {[INSERT DOWNLOAD SHEET HERE Do you wanna look like this guy? Or this guy?

[INSERT SEMINAR VIDEO ON CRUSTACEANS] CRUSTACEANS A lot of these crustaceans are nocturnal - so you will see more activity at night! This is also a fun chance to see how the ocean changes a lot at night. Bring your torch! A note pertaining to all crustaceans - do not take a "buried hen" (a female crustacean carrying eggs - some are less obvious than others, so learn how to check each type you are taking to be sure). Some female lobsters may have a "V-notch" or mutilated tail, which is a signifier that they are carrying eggs. So if you see a chip out of a lobster's tale, just leave her be. Brown Crab Size: 140mm – measured sideways Where: Rock and kelpy outcrops, under hangs, caves cracks Quantity: 5 per person daily limit Legalities: Regulations are difficult to find. Take this information as a guideline but do your own research before you take anything. We cannot stress this enough! Interesting fact: Brown Crab claws can exert a force in the region of 4 times the strength of the average human hand! Spider Crab Size: 130mm minimum (Front to back measurement) Quantity: Unfortunately there are no regulations. So use common sense with sustainability as a priority Where: Rocky and kelpy outcrops, occasionally out in the open Season: Best mid to late summer - more meat in the legs and claws of large males, although some countries do prefer the softer brown meat in the shells of the females. Females have larger rounded flaps underneath. Males are more narrow yet are also larger and with bigger claws. Fun fact! The Spider Crab's entire upper surface is made up of small hairs in order to encourage general sea organisms to attach and grow in order to disguise itself and blend in. These kinds of crabs are slow and not very strong so his is basically their only defense! It also allows for each crab to express themselves. Lobsters (find photo of Dave with lobster?) Size: 87mm – 127mm Quantity: 1 person per daily limit Where: Rocky and kelpy outcrops, under hangs, caves cracks Some interesting lobster facts! There is a law in many European countries that ban the boiling of lobsters (crustaceans) alive Lobsters have a similar claw strength to brown crabs. Be careful with this not just in terms of getting a pinch. There have been too many stories of lobsters wedging their claw on spearos hands against a rock face of a cave or hole they are hiding in. Remember this when you are considering the safety elements of your foraging. Lobsters age of maturity is within 5-8 years, but it is said that some can live over 100 years old (similar to Brown Crabs!) It is said that some can live over 100 years - similarly to Brown Crabs

[INSERT SEMINAR VIDEO HERE] THE SHOT Practice practice practice - Oh, and also practice! Start by shooting whatever fish you can! Wait, what? If you smiled and nodded to that statement then stop to think again. This mentality will only give you bad habits, and be likely to harm some underage fish, pregnant fish, vulnerable or illegal fish, or human fish. So how else can we practice? Make some targets! This is easy, affordable, and lots of fun with your dive buddies. Set up your shooting range on a quiet part of the beach where you are 100m + from any other beach users. Depth: In 1.5-3m of water use an extra weight belt on the ground to hold onto and practice your calm breathhold and practice your Aspetto or Fanacht technique Set up multiple targets at varying distances Making your own lets you design your target to the minimum size of the fish you're hunting. This is a great way for getting your eye honed in on the underwater magnification. Underwater Magnification Size matters. Everything looks about 30% bigger underwater than actual size - this is a huge difference when you are ensuring sustainability in your spearing. Be sure of the species, size and the shot! And do not take a shot if you’re not sure of a good holding shot! Remember that knowing when not to shoot will actually make you better at knowing when to shoot. Where to Shoot the Fish Always on the lateral line on the side near the head. Aim ahead of where the fish is swimming. Don’t Fight the Fish Allow it to tire and then gently pull the line to the surface. Dispatch the Fish Quickly Through the mouth or gills into the brain. Cut the gills to bleed the fish out for better quality eating.

Foundational Equipment In this section, we are considering what else you will need on top of your freediving kit. You either will have learned this information in your first freediving course, or will! Here we discuss foundational equipment. Guns specifically will be expanded on in detail in the last part of the course.

DIVE INTO LEARNING ON LAND BEFORE IN WATER If you haven't noted this already, our approach to spearfishing is through a sustainability lens. We will expand on that in this section. At this foundation, we absolutely encourage you to educate yourself with what you might encounter and be prepared for it. We discourage anyone from doing spearfishing and killing "for the sport."

COURSE LAYOUT This course is full of important information, helpful tips and tricks, cautions, and hopefully a bit of craic regarding all foundational things related to Spearfishing and Underwater Foraging! We will be giving an in-depth overview into beginner spearfishing techniques, safety, equipment, regulations, and identification, best practice. The information pertaining to the natural environment is geared toward UK and Irish waters. Each section includes the main seminar video where your instructor, Dave McGowan, teaches and expands more thoroughly on some of the written information also provided in each section, such as this right here. It is important that you watch the seminar, as it includes a lot of important info that is not included in the text summary. Each section includes an audio recording of the seminar, if you ever want to listen back but do not need the accompanying slide-show images. There are “Cheat Sheets” available in all sections as well, with key information that can be printed or downloaded to your phone for quick reference. And finally, of course it wouldn’t be an official course without a few quizzes, right? We promise to keep them as fun as possible. They are provided to ensure your acquisition of knowledge. And some good craic promised to be had upon completion! Meet your Instructor: Paragraph here about Dave!! Who Dave is etc, Maybe change here from “we” to “I?” Meet him in the next section - in our first seminar of the course!