Rebreather Collectors?

[saf1]

I don't believe the ROI on this sort of collecting is worth it which is why so few are doing it. Not to mention the local authority if you are doing it legally (note - not saying anyone isn't mind you). Risk vs. reward just isn't there.

I'm a very active diver but I don't really go to those depths. I dive in Northern California so it is all cold weather. Monastery Beach and Point Lobos are probably some of the best diving in the world. But Monastery Beach is properly named. Just a few years back we lost another diver there doing tech dives at 250ft. Lost two divers back in Feb at Point Lobos.

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

Saf it just depends. For me deep sea diving or better to say diving is a passion of mine. I dont need to be diving to make money, I will do it for free. It does cost a lot and that is why such fish like the Peppermints and Narcosis Angels carry prices of more than $ 10 000 per fish. Let me put it like this. When we do a deep sea dive to see some fish it is usually for fun ( no money made ) but when you doing a collection, you will possibly be able to make some money back depending on what you collect. The authorities are a real pain to deal with but the restrictions are there for a reason so it can take time go around it.

Yeah diving those depths are dangerous. If not planned correctly, it can be your last dive. The excitement for me is being able to see new species of fish or current fish that are found at those crazy depths. Thats what I look forward to.

 

[the808state]

Peppermints and narcosis USE to carry those price tags. If you ask around, you will see that most people are unwilling to pay those prices anymore as the market has seen them recently. I'd be surprised if you could get 2-3k for a narcosis at a wholesale level, and 5-6k for a peppermint. But hey, you never know.

Diving and exploring for a past time is awesome, but once you try to bring in the business side of things, you start looking at it completely different. Explorations and the "drop and see" approach doesn't work to well when there is money on the line, and they aren't cheap!

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

Peppermints and Narcosis still carry a hefty price. The pricing in Asia are still high. I have spoken to some retailers in Hong Kong and Taiwan that are looking for them. I would like to go down and see what is down there at those depths, who knows what we see.

Which is understandable. I love diving and most shallow dives don't cost much money. Thats why I would of preferred to do a dive in Mauritius first because it is closer to me. Cook Islands is quite far off and is isolated. We have all the necessary equipment to do the dive, the only things we need is accommodation, a refill facility, a boat charter and the flights. I do shallow water collecting so I have all the necessary nets, etc.

Who knows what will happen in the future, we are doing some planning now to work out costs and sustainability. Once we have a better idea we will move forward.

 

[the808state]

So much is Mauritius left undiscovered. I would concentrate there, Madagascar, and see if you can pull some strings to get to Seychelles. It would be a waste of time and money IMO to travel that far to Tahiti or Polynesia

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

I would love to see a Boylei or Narcosis. That would be a dream come true. I have heard from a local dive centre that there are Debelius at depths of about 40m. I need to dig deeper to find out how we can do a dive there and what it will cost. I have been advised by a friend of mine that there is only 4 export / collection permits issued.

In Madgascar a supplier of mine has said that he plans to go at the end of October to collect them but the weather hasn't held up the last few times he wanted to do the dive.

At the end of the day it comes down to costs, we do dives in SA everynow and then and it doesn't cost us too much but if we need to fly our equipment out and pay for flights, we would hope to catch something.

Or maybe even the Reunion Islands to see if we can find the Reunion Angelfish ( Apolemichthys Guezei).