Hookah and Air Hose

Dive hookah and air hose is a breathing apparatus and hand gathering technique commonly used by divers. Air is pumped through a hose to the diver who is working along the seafloor collecting their catch. Divers collect their catch using either an iron or bar to remove the abalone or sea urchins from the rocks and place them into a catch bag. Catch bags have a parachute attached which when full, is filled with air to float to the surface for collection by the boat’s deckhand and packed into bins on the boat. This method allows for highly selective harvesting, whereby under sized catch is able to be put straight back in the same position on the rock where they were sitting.

Free Diving

Free diving is a common fishing method used when diving in shallow areas. Free divers use a small bag to collect catch along the rock substrate and when full take it back to the boat to empty it. This method is commonly used to harvest Abalone and Red Sea Urchins.