Lionfish in Belize

[Hank49]

I just talked to the main guy here for Belize Fisheries. He says they're considering options on what to do. The Lionfish have been confirmed with 2 sitings at Turneffe and 1 at Glover's reef. He seemed receptive to the idea of working DMs carrying Hawaiian slings even though scuba spearing is illegal here, a special exception could be approved. They are also advocating using some type of net to catch and remove them. Also, the word is out here that they are great eating.
KILL the Lionfish !!

 

[geokr]

I just talked to the main guy here for Belize Fisheries. He says they're considering options on what to do. The Lionfish have been confirmed with 2 sitings at Turneffe and 1 at Glover's reef. He seemed receptive to the idea of working DMs carrying Hawaiian slings even though scuba spearing is illegal here, a special exception could be approved. They are also advocating using some type of net to catch and remove them. Also, the word is out here that they are great eating.
KILL the Lionfish !!

Spearing is the way to go and you don't need anything fancy. If you approach slowly you can get right up to them. They move slowly unless closely threatened. Nets are a bad idea - the spines get all tangled up and it's hard to remove them. Your catch bag should also be solid walled - no mesh bags because the spines will stick out and get you eventually. Wear a heavy glove and grab them by the face to remove them from your spear. They cook up good and the Bahamas govt is doing a full court press to have restaurants include them on the menu. But - they're so prevalent in the Bahamas you could have them in McDonald's as the Filet-o-Fish Special and the populations aren't going to go down. Recommend the Belize Govt get in touch with the Ministry of Fisheries in the Bahamas (242-325-7502) for some real good advice - the time to do something is RIGHT NOW!

 

[peterbj7]

I still don't want to see any form of spear fishing where there are divers around.

 

[geokr]

I still don't want to see any form of spear fishing where there are divers around.

A polespear will work just fine - you don't need heavy artillery.

 

[NAIBdiver1]

We saw lionfishe everday during Christmas week in Turks and Caicos. Deep and mainly on the walls - never on the flats

 

[geokr]

I enjoyed your videos very much - thank you for sharing !

I'm going to Indonesia in Sept (Komodo) and I'd like to ask a few questions - OK??

1. Your video camera and housing ? I have a Sony HC3 + Ikelite housing.

2. Colour correction filter used - blue water filter or green water filter (or lights) ?

3. Manual White Balance or automatic ?

4. Post production colour correction ?

Your colour was wonderful

Thanks
NAIBDiver1

Who you asking?

 

[Hank49]

I still don't want to see any form of spear fishing where there are divers around.

A short Hawaiian sling isn't really dangerous. It only has a range of shaft length so if working DMs used 4 footers or so, no tourist would be in danger. It's more like a frog gig than a real speargun. It's also better, as mentioned above, than using a catch bag. I don't want my hands within a foot of those spines. No matter how careful you try to be, if you handle them enough, guaranteed you'll get poked eventually. It happened to me collecting Crown of Thorns in the Philippines.
Shoot them, "wipe" them off the shaft between a couple rocks and leave them for the crabs.

 

[geokr]

A short Hawaiian sling isn't really dangerous. It only has a range of shaft length so if working DMs used 4 footers or so, no tourist would be in danger. It's more like a frog gig than a real speargun. It's also better, as mentioned above, than using a catch bag. I don't want my hands within a foot of those spines. No matter how careful you try to be, if you handle them enough, guaranteed you'll get poked eventually. It happened to me collecting Crown of Thorns in the Philippines.
Shoot them, "wipe" them off the shaft between a couple rocks and leave them for the crabs.

Good plan, right equipment. Bring lots of your friends.....

 

[GatorCT]

$50 bounty for a LionFish!
(I'd think this should get some attention)
Ambergris Today - San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize

 

[gsdsydney]

I saw a Lionfish on 3/2/2010 while diving at "The Chute". I sent an email to 'marineparks@belizeaudubon.org' to report it. The attached pic is one that I took of it.