The Question: How do you feel about the controversy between skin-divers and conventional fishermen? (Asked in the Dominican Republic)
JAMES H. BOYCE, Baton Rouge, La.
Machine distributor
"I admire skin-divers who brave the dangers of the ocean. But on the Mississippi, where the jewfish is tough to catch, the boys really have it organized. One stays in the boat and the other, with a lung, goes down on a line. When the jewfish swims near him, he places the hook in his mouth."
GWENDOLYN CAFRITZ, Washington, D.C.
Famous hostess
"No one can find fault with the conventional type of fishing. Skin-diving, too, the way it is done in Capri, at night, preferably when a full moon transforms the incomparable Bay of Naples into a sea of sapphire, is a superlative sport. I've done it. The fish have a chance."
GENERALISSIMO RAFAEL L. TRUJILLO
Ciudad Trujillo Former President
"Skin-diving is a new adventure. It takes you into a wonderful new world. Practiced as a sport, with the emphasis on exploration and photography with the electronic speedlite, the day may come when we will have as many skin-divers hunting the beauties of the deep as we have bird watchers."
MANUEL de MOYA, Ciudad Trujillo
Former Dominican Ambassador to U.S.
"There should be no conflict because there are enough fish for everyone. Legitimate fishing is for older sportsmen. Skin-diving is for the young. In ocean waters that surround our island, spear fishermen can't possibly damage our fishing grounds. We welcome both types of sportsmen."
TED BAKER, Miami
President, National Airlines
"Real fishermen are true sports. But spear-fishing is wonderful, too. However, it's easier for skin-divers to spear fish because fish are curious. But let's enjoy the sport, not kill it. Otherwise the law may curb the wanton killers. The average hunter wouldn't kill 50 quail. He'd shoot what he can use."
JEAN F. DRACH, Paris, France
Writer
"I've done both. The real skin-diver is a sportsman. He kills only when it is difficult. His main concern is exploration. Some of the wonders of the deep are so beautiful that you don't want to come up. You feel so much at ease. The lighting, the water, the foliage and formations are indescribable."
MARCO A. GOMEZ, Ciudad Trujillo
Mayor
"I enjoy both sports, but skin-diving is more thrilling. Each dive is an adventure. In the tropics, where there are so many sharks, it takes a lot of courage. When sharks smell blood, they come from everywhere. However, skin-diving in still, protected waters just to kill fish is not a sport."
THE HON. WILLIAM T. PHEIFFER, New York
U.S. Ambassador to Dominican Republic
"Exploring the beauties of the deep is a wholesome sport. But spear-fishing, although it is spectacular, does violence to the precepts of Izaak Walton, who, in his classic on fishing, The Compleat Angler, said: 'God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.' "
JOHN R. STUBBLEFIELD, Miami
Former hotel manager
"Skin-diving is a great sport. It's caught on tremendously. Witness the great amount of equipment being sold. I see no harm in spear fishing by skin-divers in the open sea. But if practiced indiscriminately in lakes, rivers and coastal waters, it can conceivably ruin the fishing grounds."
GEORGE W. GIBBS JR., Jacksonville, Fla.
President, Shipbuilding company
"Spear fishing is murder. I have a lake stocked with bass on my farm in Satsuma, Fla. My 18-year-old son speared 18 fish in one hour while I caught three, trawling. However, he tells me that it's so easy to spear fish that the longer one skin-dives, the less urge he has to kill."
PAUL R. SCOTT, Miami
Chairman, First National Bank
"A great charm of the Florida keys is plug casting and fly casting for bottom fish. When a spear fisherman goes down in one of the holes he cleans it out. He sells his kill to fish houses. If this grows, it will help ruin Florida's tourist business. I believe there will be corrective legislation."
ILLUSTRATION
ELEVEN PHOTOS
NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION:
Do the Olympic Games tend to promote international good will? (Asked at Vienna, Austria)