BREAKING NEWS: New Lionfish Legislature For Florida!

[Mike]

I just saved 15% on my car insurance!!!!

Too late and pointless,based on the spread I say they are spread in ballast water from tankers/freighters or some other vector.I see them from the Keys to mid NC.In areas where there are entries from the open ocean into ports they are heaviest.I got this epiphany watching them deballast heading into port several times right where the populations were thickest.Off Frying Pan Shoal,Charleston,Brunswick,Jax etc ships pump over ballast to lighten them as they leave the deep water to inshore of the shelf.

Unfortunately, ships have been 'de-ballasting' Indonesian/south pacific waters in US waters since WWII. So unless they hid out for over 60 years, there is no way that ballast water has anything to do with it.

 

[Akimbo]

Unfortunately, ships have been 'de-ballasting' Indonesian/south pacific waters in US waters since WWII. So unless they hid out for over 60 years, there is no way that ballast water has anything to do with it.

Fish that large tend not to survive ballast pump impellers. Eggs, might, but they probably wouldn't survive the voyage in ballast water. Perhaps more to the point, if that theory worked there would be very little separation of species in the oceans after centuries of using water ballast.

 

[Shasta_man]

The Florida legislature is going to be made up of lionfish?!

 

[chillyinCanada]

The Florida legislature is going to be made up of lionfish?!

There's so many of them now they need their own government.

 

[BRT]

The horse escaped! Shut the gate!

 

[Jax]

Maybe the hope is that people will be 'mining' the Florida reefs for aquarium Lionfish?

 

[Chugwhump]

Huh. Kinda like getting smoke detectors after the family died in a fire. Maybe we can ban the importation of cane toads, big-assed snakes, and kudzu while we're at it.

And Northeast Yankees,
And Canadian Phrogues,
And I can think of some others......
But that's really for the Pub.

Maybe the hope is that people will be 'mining' the Florida reefs for aquarium Lionfish?

I do my part.
And the part for many others.

Chug
And now back to something of importance.

 

[PK1]

BREAKING NEWS:

Last week, representatives from the Florida House and Senate took the first steps in banning the importation or aquaculture of invasive lionfish. Representative Holly Raschein (R-Key Largo) and Senator Greg Evers (R- Pensacola) have filed HB 1069 and SB 1336 to address the devastation being caused by lionfish in Florida’s coastal waters. The bills will prohibit importation, aquaculture and sale of illegally imported lionfish and they authorized FWC to adopt a rule to that effect. By stopping importation into Florida, it is anticipated that current demand for lionfish will be supplied by removal of invasive lionfish rather than increased importation from their native range.

While a little to late, this is a good move for several reasons: (i) 60,000 lionfish are still imported to US every year for aquarium trade; almost all come from IndoPacific. It would be overkill to put a ban on further import/sale of live lionfish, so better to at least ensure that they come from invaded range (ii) this is a positive way to involve the aquarium trade in control efforts, whether or not they were the cause of the invasion; (iii) this provides an alternate profit opportunity for fishers & fisher communities whose livelihoods are threatened by the invasion; particularly by providing commercial incentive for removal of juvenile fish (which are of no value for food market) before they reach sexual maturity.

What isn't clear to me is whether the proposed legislation would allow importation of live fish from the invaded range (e.g from Caribbean and Central America) or whether the intention is to satisfy demand exclusively from fish caught or bred in U.S. My view is that importation from the invaded range should not only be allowed, but encouraged.

 

[Mike]

The legislature would look smarter if they passed a spending bill to fund lionfish research in the gulf for a 10-20 million dollars.

 

[Chugwhump]

The legislature would look smarter if they passed a spending bill to fund lionfish research in the gulf for a 10-20 million dollars.

Not going to happen with our current governor.
Chug
Is sorry for more Pub nonsense.