No excuse for attack on diver
As a certified scuba diver, I can’t think of anything much scarier or more dangerous to my life than having my regulator pulled from my mouth.
How is it possible this man hasn’t been arrested for attempted manslaughter? It’s too bad the fish collector felt he couldn’t collect fish with people watching, but last time I checked, it’s a “free country” underwater, just as it is on land.
There’s no excuse for physically attacking someone just because he or she is observing your activities.
It’s lucky that Rene Umberger knew what she was doing. A less experienced diver might now be dead.
P. Hanson
Kona
Collectors should breed fish not grab them from ocean
The story of the fish collector who ripped off the regulator of the woman videotaping him is an almost perfect metaphor for the whole business of wild fish collecting. Collectors go down to the reefs and rip the little fish out of their homes and put them in little plastic bags and tanks where they can barely breathe. If I am not mistaken, your paper ran a story about a year ago that said that most collected fish die before they ever make it into someone’s aquarium.
There is a simple solution to this whole problem — breeding. I don’t mean “good breeding,” as in being brought up not to attack other people — I mean fish collectors should just breed new aquarium fish. Fish farmers do this all over the world with all kinds of species.
If we make it illegal to capture wild fish for aquariums I’ll bet collectors will learn to breed them in no time.
Matt Binder
Waimea