Spear Fishing: The Most Sustainable Way to Harvest From the Sea

For many people that live by rivers or the ocean, spear fishing can be an essential skill to stay self sufficient.

Spear fishing is fishing in its simplest form. It's been used for thousands of years, and for many native tribes it has been the main way to harvest from the oceans. It's a highly sustainable way of hunting, with no use of gas, and there is no risk of over fishing.

With a fishing spear, you can also hunt other animals such as bullfrogs (frog legs are tasty).

How to get started

In principle it's very simple. Spear fishing can be done with improvised gear and a spear made of a sharp stick, or by using more expensive equipment like free diving or SCUBA gear. If you live by the ocean or a large lake, I'd recommend that you get the gear as part of your prepping -- but for a survival situation, sometimes a sharp stick will have to do.

Note that if you're going the SCUBA/snorkeling route, you should get some training. For SCUBA diving, it's essential to get training and an accredited certification (check out Padi.com for this). Not doing so can put you at risk of injury or death.

Personally I've taken the regular open water diving certificate, and additional certification for advanced open water and dry suit diving (for colder climates).

Spear fishing in the wild with improvised gear

Spear fishing with proper equipment

Legality

If your actively going to spear fish, make sure you check out the law in your state. Survival in the wild is survival -- if you need to eat, you need to eat.