To kill or not to kill lionfish in the Caribbean and Florida?

[Stoo]

However, killing creatures never comes easy to me.

I personally only buy meat that comes from retired cattle that died in retirement homes, of natural causes...

I agree though... We all love fish and I don't eat any fish at all... except lionfish. Most fisheries in the world are highly threatened due to overfishing. Reducing a new predator will help to protect the rest of the beasts we lick. It sucks to be a lionfish... it's not like they had a choice about where they lived.

My one objection to having rank amateurs spear them is that, well, they're rank amateurs. On a recent trip I was on, some of the folks in my group were nailing a few and on occasion it wasn't pretty. If you're going to spear anything, learn how to do it well.

 

[Steve_C]

I have seen videos of large snapper eating wild lionfish. Circled it until it could take it hear first. I think the scuba hunting is helpful but longer term the new predators is the key. There are huge areas where there is not much diiving and we want that to be a nursery for lots of fish, not just lion fish.

 

[TMHeimer]

I won't comment on feeding them to sharks as a means of training sharks to like them. I don't know who has any statistics on that. My gut says it's not the best idea. I also don't think it matters much, because I don't think divers spearing lionfish make all that much of a difference. I have been told the vast numbers of lionfish inhabit waters too remote or deep for rec. diving. Again, no expert here. I also read recently about something being developed that will affect the lionfish on a wider scale--rather than divers.
As for the morality of killing anything, that's a different issue that has nothing to do with fish populations--a personal philosophy one way or the other, so no point in commenting on it.

 

[wildbill9]

Seriously? So is the next thread\ vote going to be should we eliminate cancer? Kill them, all!!!!

 

[Bratface]

Kill them all but be good at it. I moved from the Caribbean last year where we had a very good program in place. It's hard to get them once they have been hit and missed. They will eat every fish on the reef if they get the chance so unless all you want to look at are lionfish, kill them.

 

[Hatul]

Thou shalt not kill.

 

[CT-Rich]

They don’t usually make their way this far North, but when they do, winter kills them. When I was down in Grand Cayman last month, I only saw two.

The problem with serving them in restaurants is they have already done a lot of damage to get dinner sized. Kill them early and often.

When I was a kid, Gypsy Moths decimated the trees of the NE US. It was a temporary problem because nature found a way to control the invasives. The important thing is to minimize the impact on the reef until other predators start doing the work.

 

[Nick Steele]

Kill and shoot them all!!!

While I don’t condone anyone to feed wild animals I see nothing wrong with taking what you eat or will share with others.

While I don’t have to much experience with lionfish (maybe taken 5 total). I have plenty experience with snakeheads which were another invasive fish in Florida FRESH WATER (some northern states). In the early days it was practice to kill any that you caught (I’ve probably killed 100+ in 2005). I use to believe they would harm bass numbers but over time I actually seen steady fishing success and I stopped killing them unless a friend wanted one for dinner/bait. Over the years I have seen bass/snakeheads schooling together. I’ve seen bass foraging on snakehead babies and will sometimes hook mom/dad to give bass an upper hand.

I believe nature will find a way to control lionfish even if humans are the main factor. I mean they have been around since the early 1990s if I’m not mistaken.

 

[tcpip95]

A few years back I read an interesting article where they were trying to get sharks in the Caribbean/Atlantic to feed on them. They (the authors) were amazed at how sharks "here" wouldn't eat them yet sharks in the Pacific would. Never followed up any further on that paper, however I have quickly developed a taste for Lionfish. Wife and I have driven down to the Keys on more than one occasion just to stay the night and enjoy a Lionfish dinner.

 

[Scubagolf]

Seven days of diving in Cozumel last week and the only LF I saw was on my plate at La Perlita!