Lionfish...Okay this is funny

[NudeDiver]

Man is the most destructive invasive on the planet for sure.

Then the solution is clear. Execute a predator control plan on humans. Could really solve a lot of issues. Oh. Wait. That would be "immoral". But death to the animals! Hoo Rah!

 

[NudeDiver]

Maybe at some point someone will offer a bounty on lionfish "scalps". Then we will see action.

Yep - it's just a matter of money. If people care enough about the issue, put your money where your mouth is. Offer a $100/fish bounty on the lionfish and just sit back and wait. People will be bringing them to you by the bucket full.

However, I suspect that almost none of the people complaining about the lionfish would actually be willing to pony up $1000-2000 to take 10 to 20 of them out of the environment.

 

[docwagner]

Yep - it's just a matter of money. If people care enough about the issue, put your money where your mouth is. Offer a $100/fish bounty on the lionfish and just sit back and wait. People will be bringing them to you by the bucket full.

However, I suspect that almost none of the people complaining about the lionfish would actually be willing to pony up $1000-2000 to take 10 to 20 of them out of the environment.

The point I am trying to make is that YOU like all of the divers on this board should be "complaining" or be very concerned about lionfish in the Atlantic/Caribbean. This is a very real problem.

 

[NudeDiver]

The point I am trying to make is that YOU like all of the divers on this board should be "complaining" or be very concerned about lionfish in the Atlantic/Caribbean.

Yes, I understand what your point is - I simply disagree with it.

This is a very real problem.

It's an issue. It only becomes a "problem" if you choose to adopt a particular perspective. It's only a problem if people choose to make it one. From the perspective of the lionfish, it's not a problem at all. It's not a problem from my perspective either.

Here's another issue....there is strong evidence that the Earth's magnetic field is now in the process of reversing. This reversal is imminent. While this has happened many times over the course of the Earth's history, this will be the first time that modern man has been around to witness it. Such reversals result in a massive increase in the amount of cosmic radiation that reaches the Earth's surface - radiation that causes genetic mutations and cell damage to living organisms. Such reversals can also wreck havoc on organisms that use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate and for other purposes - not to mention our satellites in orbit and various other technologicial systems. So - is this a problem? Is this something you should worry about? Is it something we should expend resources on? Should we try to stop it, in the name of preserving ourselves and the environment? It all depends on your perspective.

 

[Guba]

Hmmm. This thread turned rather "unfunny" the longer it ran. Sorry, that wasn't the intent.

 

[NudeDiver]

FWIW, I didn't see what was supposed to be so funny about the flyer in the OP.

But then, I have no idea what's supposed to be so funny about Conan O'Brien or why on Earth he was picked for The Tonight Show either.

Maybe humour just isn't my bag.

Cheers!
ND

 

[highlandfarmwv]

It is my understanding that in the Pacific the Mola Mola eats lionfish. that's why they are somewhat controlled there. I think eating them would be great--even to just exchange them for the normally eaten fish may help some. Every one caught means hundreds less later. We may think they're not a problem now, but they sure wiill be ini the future and by then it may be more than too late to slow their spread.

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Maybe humour just isn't my bag.

Cheers!
ND

I have actually enjoyed your posts! Carry On!

Carolyn:shark2:

 

[Brishar]

Yesterday, for lunch, I tried "Lionfish Stew". What a rush!

When I got home, I couldn't help myself. Took my wife like Sherman took Atlanta.

Did for me what Viagra and Cialis couldn't. I haven't been like that in twenty years!

This morning, my wife was outside waxing my truck before breakfast. She sent a broadcast e-mail telling all her girlfriends to insist their husbands try "lionfish stew".

Alas, if only it was this easy.

 

[Baracuda Smile]

As it has been explained to me the problem with Lionfish in the Atlantic is as follows:

1) They have no natural predators in the Atlantic
2) They eat all the little reef fish (e.g. the babies)
3) If they get in the island Mangroves (where all the reef fish babies hide) all the reef fish on the Atlantic reefs will be gone in something like 20 years

The scientists I've talked to tell me this is a slow motion ecological disaster. Is there some hyperbole here? Maybe, but I don't know enough to tell.

1) How do you know? What is the lionfish natural predator?
2) Yes they eat small fish but they are not fast. They herd the minnows with their dorsal fins into a corner then they strike. Minnows are prolific and the lion fish don't eat many. It is interesting to watch them hunt in groups of three or four.
3) Even if the lion fish get into the mangroves the reef fish will survive because the minnows can go into holes that the lion fish can't go because they are to big. If there are to many fish to go in a small hole then the lion fish will have a lunch.
4) Most likely the loss of fish is because of over fishing and human contamination of the water not because of the lion fish.
5) Solution fish hatcherys, and artificial reefs that have small holes for the minnows. Believe it or not many abandoned fish nets make great habitat for these minnows as it offers small spaces for the minnows but the lion fish will not swim near.

How do I know?

Because I dive in Okinawa, Japan and have observed the many spicies of lion fish for hundreds of hours, yet our reefs, and reef fish are coming back. The game fish are disappearing but that is because of over fishing.