Lionfish Awareness and Elimination

[stcroix]

Thanks Lionfisher.
I like your concept of "gateway". In a word, it says a lot.
A comparison to hunting and hunters is worthwhile: Many hunters have become conservationists.

I want to say that I think our BEST hope is when money and efforts are channeled through groups like REEF, and research projects, --rather than government agencies. Here in the USVI, the local govt just received a rather large grant to attack the LF problem, in spite of the fact that giving money to any government agency, especially in this territory, is the equivalent of chartering a cruiseship to take you to your dive site. In 2009 the local DPNR put together a LF plan, that has gone largely un-implemented, while the diveshops and volunteers have risen up to do the work of taking LF out of the waters.

I think LF hunting could also be a "gateway" to getting young people interested in diving. (Accding to the stats, diving is a declining sport). In some ways, LF hunting fulfills a primal need (no laughing, plz), while fostering teamwork, conservation, and a sense of participation in something greater than yourself.

 

[b-dog]

If people really wanted to get rid of lionfish then I think there is one or two predators that would hunt them down and reduce their numbers. The white tip reef shark is one such predator. It is nocturnal and it searches the coral reef for any fish hiding in the coral. Lionfish are slow and will will detected easily by them and eaten. The black tip reef shark is a similar predator. The reason there are not tons of lionfish in the pacific and Indian oceans is because the lionfish have predators there.

 

[hvulin]

What will you do when a bigger "fish" appears with a certificate to kill all invasive humans? Are you really and trully sure that this is a invasive fish and not a natural order of things? Extermination is never a good thing!

 

[Guba]

Concerning the previous two posts...
@ bdog...That's the thinking of many who are familiar with the lionfish "invasion". The problem is that if things were truly left up to natural processes, there would be MANY MANY more sharks than there are currently. One aspect of the problem is not so much that we have introduced a non-indigenous species into the environment, but we (humans) have DECIMATED the natural shark populations as well as those of other mid-level predators. It's not a matter of "we need to introduce more/another new predator into the system". We just need to limit how many we take out of the system.

@ hvulin..."Extermination is never a good thing..." See above. Human activities remove 100 million sharks from the environment a year. In some places, that pretty much amounts to extermination. That simply HAS to have huge impacts, and we're just now starting to see some of them. It's entirely possible that the speed and scope of the lionfish invasion might be linked to those impacts.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

All the Caribbean corals would be bleached in 30 years or so it is pointless to try to wipe the lionfish out.

 

[b-dog]

I just want to say that the lionfish are just a predator that has found a home due to the fact that the native predators have been depleted. The lionfish are just assuming the role of groupers, snappers and sharks. When these predators are reduced then the reefs become overpopulated will small reef fish and in turn this allows algae to grow over the coral and kill it because the small reef fish eat all of the invertebrates that eat the algae. People can not understand that even though the small reef fish are pretty they still need to have their numbers reduced by predators in order to maintain balance on the reef. White tip reef sharks would eat lionfish and also keep the small reef fish in check. People can not stand the presence of lionfish and seek to kill them off so that is why I thought that white tip reef sharks would be good surrogate predators since the lionfish are so hated. There does need to be some predators on the reef or else it will go into decline.

 

[danvolker]

As much as I was one fo the posters early in this topic, that was in favor of Lionfish tournaments, I have to say this new concept of Trophic Collapse , meaning the depletion of APEX and higher level predators, allowing overpopulation of trophic levels below them, is changing my thinking....and the story Fred has shared with us of his experiences in the Bahamas, is just too strong to ignore. At this point, I am inclined to agree the Lionfish are replacing the higher level predators our commercial overfishing wiped out.

We are going to have reefs much like Fred's reef, where no one goes and shoots lionfish....and soon enough, we should be able to see the algae effects and herbivore implications. Certainly in the deep reefs off of palm beach, the 135 foot deep reef line, and the 220-270 foot reeflines, their is little to no human impact on Lionfish numbers....so any algae change will be readily apparent.

 

[b-dog]

Damselfish grow little coral gardens on the reef after they clear an area of coral. They guard this area from other fish that might eat the algae too. As beautiful as damselfish are if they over-populate the reef then the reef will become overgrown with algae. The lionfish reduce the numbers of small fish on the reef allowing the coral a chance to grow. The lionfish are just doing the job that the overfished predators did and that is why they have exploded in number because there were too many small fish on the reef due to lack of predators. Soon a balance will be restored and lionfish will keep an equilibrium number that maintains balance with the rest of the fish on the reef.

 

[danvolker]

Damselfish grow little coral gardens on the reef after they clear an area of coral. They guard this area from other fish that might eat the algae too. As beautiful as damselfish are if they over-populate the reef then the reef will become overgrown with algae. The lionfish reduce the numbers of small fish on the reef allowing the coral a chance to grow. The lionfish are just doing the job that the overfished predators did and that is why they have exploded in number because there were too many small fish on the reef due to lack of predators. Soon a balance will be restored and lionfish will keep an equilibrium number that maintains balance with the rest of the fish on the reef.

As intriguing as this concept sounds, I would still be interested in learning why the Lionfish are not eating so many herbivores as to negate the effect of their also eating so many low level predators....Knowing what herbivores will actually eat the nasty red-brown algae would also be nice

 

[The Chairman]

As far as Lionfish tournaments go, the winner this past weekend caught 289 Lionfish: all on breath hold with a net. The best the scuba divers could manage was 94. Awesome job.