Introducing new changes to the lionfish licensing program on Roatan

[Roatan Marine Park]

Since their arrival to Roatan in May 2009, the Roatan Marine Park has taken a proactive stance on the invasive lionfish. Through support from the Honduran Fisheries Department, Digepesca, we were able to issue licenses to enable people to hunt lionfish using Hawaiian slings. Initially only Dive Masters and Instructors were permitted to have these licenses, however as the years have gone by, it appears that by limiting ourselves to just these individuals we are fighting a loosing battle. As more people became aware of the lionfish problem, it was inevitable that locals and tourists wanted to participate in the eradication program. With a coastline of over 80 miles consisting of lagoons, bays, mangroves and coral reef, the waters around Roatan have been inundated with this extremely destructive and invasive species. It was therefore decided to broaden the program and involve more of the community. Both divers and snorkelers have been issued with licenses, however some people have grown concerned about the number of unskilled people using the slings and asked the RMP to reassess the program.

Starting in March, the RMP will require ALL licensed lionfish hunters to visit the RMP office in Half Moon Bay and reregister. Every licensed diver and snorkeler will be subjected to a test to prove they meet the new requirements showing controlled buoyancy and use of the sling. The test will enable RMP staff to see that those involved are competent. While the removal of the lionfish is a priority of this program, ensuring that the reef is not subjected to direct and indirect diver damage is our precedence. The program will also be made available to visitors who wish to participate.

For the month of March, we will be holding a 3 times a week workshops to try and get people officially observed, re-registered, and issued with new licenses. After March, workshops will be held once a week. Every person who has been or wishes to be involved in hunting lionfish must contact the RMP office to book their place in the buoyancy and sling workshop.

We advise that divers that wish to participate in the workshop with the intention of hunting at local dive shops should contact them prior as some establishments prefer that their guests don't spear lionfish. Please check our facebook page and website in the next day or two for costs, regulations etc. You can always contact us directly on info@roatanmarinepark.net for more info

 

[Doc]

..... it appears that by limiting ourselves ..... With a coastline of over 80 miles ... to visit the RMP office in Half Moon Bay ... subjected to a test ... will also be made available to visitors ... we will be holding a 3 times a week workshops... be held once a week.

This process de-facto limits the hunting by excluding almost any 1-week vacationing SCUBA diver. I see the great bulk of readers here on ScubaBoard will simply not be able to access this program. True enough, there are some longer-term visiting divers who cluster around west End Area who have easy access to the RMP Office and can arrange their longer term schedules to do this.

It absolutely eliminates any such visitor using any South Side dive resort. The taking off of one day of AI paid resort diving (by any measure- the only access that exists on the South side) and traveling to the RMP office for a day is a non-starter.

I have no easy solution to this huge barrier, but as you say- there are 60+ miles of coastline. Leaving the unique, delicate, lush and florid walls of the South side un-hunted? That is a huge mistake.

You are right- many resorts simply do not want guests thrashing about with pointed sticks. CCV sends their DMs out on special dives to do this. Other resorts just either look the other way when guests go hunting, some do nothing.

If you really wanted to make this work- offer to send someone to these AI's on Mondays and do the classes- or deputize a designated Resort Instructor to do the task. This will mean having to split your license fee, which might be distasteful. This would be a much better approach to the large AI market- quite a bit of which is nowhere near easy access to the RMP Office.

 

[herbdb]

I have visited Roatan, Bonaire, Cozumel and the Fla Keys in the last 18 months and I believe the Lionfish are by far the worst in Roatan. They need to get busy on a better program.

 

[Chaseh]

If you really wanted to make this work- offer to send someone to these AI's on Mondays and do the classes- or deputize a designated Resort Instructor to do the task. This will mean having to split your license fee, which might be distasteful. This would be a much better approach to the large AI market- quite a bit of which is nowhere near easy access to the RMP Office.

Agreed, they need to get serious about this. It may already be past the tipping point, but the real damage to the diving industry hasn't yet taken hold. If left unchecked, this may change the reef landscape to the point where RTB is no longer a sought out dive destination. Perhaps it will be replaced by the cruise ship economy, but it's truly a shame.

 

[Mike]

Since their arrival to Roatan in May 2009, the Roatan Marine Park has taken a proactive stance on the invasive lionfish. Through support from the Honduran Fisheries Department, Digepesca, we were able to issue licenses to enable people to hunt lionfish using Hawaiian slings. Initially only Dive Masters and Instructors were permitted to have these licenses, however as the years have gone by, it appears that by limiting ourselves to just these individuals we are fighting a loosing battle. As more people became aware of the lionfish problem, it was inevitable that locals and tourists wanted to participate in the eradication program. With a coastline of over 80 miles consisting of lagoons, bays, mangroves and coral reef, the waters around Roatan have been inundated with this extremely destructive and invasive species. It was therefore decided to broaden the program and involve more of the community. Both divers and snorkelers have been issued with licenses, however some people have grown concerned about the number of unskilled people using the slings and asked the RMP to reassess the program.

Starting in March, the RMP will require ALL licensed lionfish hunters to visit the RMP office in Half Moon Bay and reregister. Every licensed diver and snorkeler will be subjected to a test to prove they meet the new requirements showing controlled buoyancy and use of the sling. The test will enable RMP staff to see that those involved are competent. While the removal of the lionfish is a priority of this program, ensuring that the reef is not subjected to direct and indirect diver damage is our precedence. The program will also be made available to visitors who wish to participate.

For the month of March, we will be holding a 3 times a week workshops to try and get people officially observed, re-registered, and issued with new licenses. After March, workshops will be held once a week. Every person who has been or wishes to be involved in hunting lionfish must contact the RMP office to book their place in the buoyancy and sling workshop.

We advise that divers that wish to participate in the workshop with the intention of hunting at local dive shops should contact them prior as some establishments prefer that their guests don't spear lionfish. Please check our facebook page and website in the next day or two for costs, regulations etc. You can always contact us directly on info@roatanmarinepark.net for more info

You've basically ensured that less lionfish will be removed from the waters of Roatan with this change to an already flawed program.

You also said "Hawaiian slings" is that truly a specific change to not having to purchase a $150 ELF and basically any generic 'hawaiin sling' is now acceptable?

You guys should spend your money on educating your dive industry to eradicate lionfish on every dive they make, under the guise of catering to their self-interest in keeping the reef healthy and keeping Roatan on the map as a world class dive destination before it's too late. This will keep the individual dive sites clear of lionfish. Then supplement your program with allowing open season on lionfish for locals and anyone who wants to help.

I can't believe buoyancy is even on the radar compared to what unmolested lionfish are doing. Last time I was in Roatan I watched locals standing on the shallow reef near Turtle Crossing dive site, and you're worried about divers buoyancy???? Roatan needs some serious public service campaigns to educate it's local population and it's dive industry.

Roatan would be better off modeling it's programs based on other countries programs that are demonstrating success instead of pretending that Honduras is the only country in the Caribbean that has a lionfish problem and there is no one else doing anything that they can learn from.

 

[b-dog]

Agreed, they need to get serious about this. It may already be past the tipping point, but the real damage to the diving industry hasn't yet taken hold. If left unchecked, this may change the reef landscape to the point where RTB is no longer a sought out dive destination. Perhaps it will be replaced by the cruise ship economy, but it's truly a shame.

I am really curious, do most divers think that lionfish will eat all of the fish on the reef, leaving it devoid of all fish life? I like to dive for fun but I only go diving a few times a year so I have not been diving enough to really know the extent of the problem. I have seen lionfish in Belize while diving but there were lots of other fish as well. I also went to Tobego and there did not seem to be as many fish as in Belize but there were also no lionfish.

I do know a lot about fish from aquariums however and it seems that the fish in the the Caribbean/Atlantic are closely related to the fish in the Indo-Pacific. It is just that there are like 10 to 20 times as many fish species in the Indo-Pacific as in the Caribbean/Atlantic region so basically the Caribbean/Atlantic is sort of a subset of the Indo-Pacific fishes. Now will the Caribbean/Atlantic species be able to adapt to the presence of the lionfish I don't know. I just feel that fish are a very good candidate for rapid evolution as they tend to reproduce in huge amounts so if even 99.9% of the fish young are are eaten those few that survive will be able to pass on their genes to the next generation. My hunch is that fish will adapt very quickly to the lionfish but I of course could be overly optimistic.

 

[Doc]

I am really curious, do most divers think.....

Off topic. Here's your thread : http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bay-islands/411739-lionfish-problem-solved.html

I say this only because this thread was the first, the one and only, that seemed to be dealing with codified legislation that was attempting to resolve a disturbance in nature's balance caused by man.

This thread is about legislation- not reality.

 

[Mike]

I am really curious, do most divers think that lionfish will eat all of the fish on the reef, leaving it devoid of all fish life? I like to dive for fun but I only go diving a few times a year so I have not been diving enough to really know the extent of the problem. I have seen lionfish in Belize while diving but there were lots of other fish as well. I also went to Tobego and there did not seem to be as many fish as in Belize but there were also no lionfish.

I do know a lot about fish from aquariums however and it seems that the fish in the the Caribbean/Atlantic are closely related to the fish in the Indo-Pacific. It is just that there are like 10 to 20 times as many fish species in the Indo-Pacific as in the Caribbean/Atlantic region so basically the Caribbean/Atlantic is sort of a subset of the Indo-Pacific fishes. Now will the Caribbean/Atlantic species be able to adapt to the presence of the lionfish I don't know. I just feel that fish are a very good candidate for rapid evolution as they tend to reproduce in huge amounts so if even 99.9% of the fish young are are eaten those few that survive will be able to pass on their genes to the next generation. My hunch is that fish will adapt very quickly to the lionfish but I of course could be overly optimistic.

start here

[h=1]Lionfish Invasion: Super Predator Threatens Caribbean Coral Reefs[/h]

 

[mattpatton]

Monthly Lionfish Hunting Tournaments! Prizes awarded to the top 5 exterminators! If there is a way for Humans to either compete and/or make a profit by killing LionFish, we'll wipe them out super fast. I'm sure they'd make a reality TV show out of it.

From my observations up here in North Carolina, they are definitely affecting the Hognose Snapper. I find that if I dive on a ledge and see a lot of LionFish, I won't see any HogSnapper. However, usually when there are a lot of Hogs on a ledge sytem, there isn't a Lionfish to be found anywhere.

I don't really understand it, but it happens more often than not for us.