BRAND NEW VERSION FOR 2024
Want to learn how to gather your own food from the sea in a truly sustainable and ethical way?Â
Want to learn to freedive with a purpose, in the clean Cornish seas?
Want to learn incredible life skills that could change the way you look at the ocean forever?
Ian Donald has been teaching freediving, underwater foraging and spearfishing since 2009 and is today one of the most respected and experienced qualified instructors in the world.Â
His goal has always been to teach underwater hunting in the most sustainable way possible, so this new 2 day version of his classic discover underwater foraging course is the culmination of all that experience.
This is not a conventional spearfishing course. You will not use a modern speargun but will instead be taught traditional techniques using polespears and slings. Your focus will be on hand foraging and learning about all thats available rather than just fish.
You will also focus on time underwater rather than just depth, as this will really help your diving and productivity.
This approach can make you a better hunter, more stealthy and more importantly for the ecology of the ocean, give you the time and knowledge to make the right choice. Is the fish, crustacean, mollusc or seaweed the right species? Is it the right size? Is it too big or too small? Is it locally sustainable? Does it taste nice? Theres a lot to think about!
In collaboration with The Cornwall good Seafood Guide, The Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Seasearch become an underwater forager and gain a closer understanding of the sea and what you can catch or gather to eat, with the smallest possible effect on the local ecology.
Spearfishers have the capacity to hunt areas that fishing boats simply cant access, therby damaging, disrupting or even destroying critical breeding and feeding areas
However if you approach it with a different mindset, and with the courage to leave ‘a catch of a lifetime’ to swim another day, you can be an instrument of positive change.
You will also have the opportunity to collect info for Seasearch, a fantastic initiative that uses recreartional divers to gather information about marine habitats in the UK.
To enter the water with one thing in mind, to catch fish, is to ignore some of the greatest gifts the sea has to offer. With fish stocks under constant pressure its our responsibility to spread the ‘net’ and use our skills to gather from of a wider pool of edible flora and fauna. Seaweeds are superfoods of the highest order, learn which ones you can easily find and how to prepare them. Molluscs and shellfish offer a protein source that is often more easily managed than free swimming fish.
Each course will benefit from live sustainability information provided by The Cornwall Good seafood guide and the Marine sustainability officer of the Cornwall wildlife trust, Matt Slater. You may even be able to help gather data for Seasearch on your course.
Use the calendar below to book your 2-Day Underwater Foraging course
E: freedivinguk@gmail.com
T: 01637 621922
M: 07980728613
Opening times –
MON-SUN 9:30AM-6:30PM
FreediveUK offer freediving courses for all levels in the clear water of the Atlantic ocean. Based in Newquay Cornwall, learn to freedive, spearfish, marine forage or even be a mermaid with freediving expert and author Ian Donald and his team. Call 01637 621922 for more info. School and shop located 28a Crantock St, Newquay.
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