fighting back !

[Curacao Sunshine]

Hello all I will be using Sunshine's log in so I don't have to think and make my own

I was at my favorite shore dive here on Curacao "playa largo" and have seen a lionfish. Although a very attractive fellow I will kill him next time I go there. What is my best weapon?? I have seen broken fishing poles with a sharp point. Wouldn't I want a bard on the end??

David

 

[Adaveke]

Isn't there a STINAPA branch on Curacao as well?
Maybe you should just give them a call.

 

[Kukuisa]

David,
Talk to Andreas. All diveshops should have had information from Carmabi about the lionfish.

 

[Curacao Sunshine]

(The Real Sunshine says)
K. I talked to Bryan at OEW yesterday. He's trying to get someone (forgot the name) from Reef Care out to Banda Bou to talk about the lionfish. Apparently all the dive shops will be given kits to use and maybe (?) for their divers. After the first one was spotted this past summer, I tried to order a net but was not successful. I've got to retrace my emails to find if Bryan can order them. I'm sure he'll post if he gets a seminar planned. If not, I'll give you and Gustele a heads up. There is finally something to bring all the dive shops together, unfortunately it's the lionfish.

 

[Kukuisa]

There is only one thing that will bring people together: food. So start looking up some nice recipes for lionfish-soup, -pizza, -icecream, and see how fast we come down there.

 

[francousteau]

David - - When you learn how to kill them, go find this one too. I found it at Little Knip to the left about 15 minutes and at about 12 meters.

 

[jd950]

David & Sunshine:

Sadly, I won't be able to dive for awhile and will have to postpone my June trip, but maybe I can come down in August. A friend in Florida gave me the information on the type of net and gloves that work best and I can mule some down if you want.

I had thought of the possibility of spearing, and picked out a nice pole spear to use, but was afraid I would run afoul of local laws down there.

Whenever I can come down again, I think we shoot for (sorry about the pun) a lionfish dinner night at your place with OEW folks and whoever else is up for it. At least two of us in my little clan would help catch/kill as many as we can as well as help clean and prepare.

If we can't get enough fish, I am sure we can eat something else.

From what I hear, the main concerns in catching/killing them is to avoid damaging nearby coral with a spear or other tools, and that if you try and fail, the fish will become more wary around divers so it is important to succeed when trying to bag one.

Oh, and David, as I understand it, you want a barbless tip, and preferably a "paralyzer" tip, although you would have to buy rather than make one of those.

 

[pdive]

I hear these can be a little rough on the fish but in this case it's probably not an issue. Point & slurp might be a little more reef friendly than netting them.

Slurpgun * Slurp Gun At Water N Sports Discounts Online

Scroll down about 2/3 of the way on that page.
They are pricey but it looks like one could be made at home.

 

[Nezzy]

I'm not so sure the slupgun is the right tool. It would need to be pretty big! The guys that I saw were using an old broken fishing pole with a sharp point on it. I believe the fish will be easy prey, certainly one at a time. Let's hope we humans don't come up with an extermination plan like introducing some other creature to take care of the problem we created.

 

[DiverVince]

A simple Hawaiian sling is what you need for these critters.