Lion Fish in Cozumel

[ScubaTony]

Yea I renewed mine about 4 months ago before the lionfish issue. I agree the course is much better then the one I took 4 years ago, and I would love to talk to you about the new lionfish stuff they are teaching. Problem is I hate meetings in Cozumel. Too much blah blah and not enough substance. I bet the English class is much better than the Spanish one.
The Jamaica scenario would be worst case. Lets help where ever we can to keep that from happening here. I hate the idea of killing any fish in the ocean but if it is truly what we need to do to save Cozumel reefs then I'll be the first one in the water.
Betsy! I don't know if it is true or not but I am going to ride over that way later to check it out. How ironic would that be if the outbreak came from here?

 

[geokr]

Tony, Christi - Is the updated presentation available in soft copy? Be nice to read if it could be posted.

 

[DIVECOZUMEL]

Hey Tony, when you are done hugging the reefs of Cozumel maybe you could address some other issues of a salient nature before you try and tackle the apparent "Lionfish" invasion of Cozumel. First off you should be a responsible business owner and place a disclaimer on your website that states the following: " The photos on my site may or may not have been taken by my customers and I personally may have taken them from other websites and placed them on mine without permission." If you don't want to place a disclaimer similar to this then let me know and I will tell you what photo is mine and you can take it off. Second maybe the people who live and work in Cozumel might get the marine park officials to actually do their job and monitor the illegal fishing that goes on INSIDE the marine park. You know the boats that are out every morning down south?
Try dealing with those issues before you move on to others....

 

[geokr]

"And in this corner wearing the polka dot trunks....."

 

[Gen San Chris]

Here in the southern Philippines Lion Fish are so plentyful that we do not take much notice of them! There are Predators for them, Moray eels are the biggest predator on them here! I am sure that nature will find a way to solve this problem and sort out the correct numbers, we do not bother as the Crown of Thorns Sea Star can do huge damage if we do not keep them in check!
Enjoy the beauty of the lion fish instead of thinking of how to get rid of them!

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Hey Tony, when you are done hugging the reefs of Cozumel maybe you could address some other issues of a salient nature before you try and tackle the apparent "Lionfish" invasion of Cozumel. First off you should be a responsible business owner and place a disclaimer on your website that states the following: " The photos on my site may or may not have been taken by my customers and I personally may have taken them from other websites and placed them on mine without permission." If you don't want to place a disclaimer similar to this then let me know and I will tell you what photo is mine and you can take it off. Second maybe the people who live and work in Cozumel might get the marine park officials to actually do their job and monitor the illegal fishing that goes on INSIDE the marine park. You know the boats that are out every morning down south?
Try dealing with those issues before you move on to others....

1. Off topic.

2. Should be addressed in a personal email and not on a public forum.

PH

 

[geokr]

Here in the southern Philippines Lion Fish are so plentyful that we do not take much notice of them! There are Predators for them, Moray eels are the biggest predator on them here! I am sure that nature will find a way to solve this problem and sort out the correct numbers, we do not bother as the Crown of Thorns Sea Star can do huge damage if we do not keep them in check!
Enjoy the beauty of the lion fish instead of thinking of how to get rid of them!

The lionfish in your area are native and the ocean adapted to them eons ago. They're not native on this side of the world where things are just a bit different. The potential for an ecological nightmare here is real while nature takes her good ol' time sorting things out. Whilst she does, fishermen have to feed their families and tourists who are relied upon to travel a great distance to be part of the existing, long-established aquatic environment here, and who are also supporting the economy there, would not like to see things change for the benefit of only the damn lionfish. Again, the potential for severe, repeat, severe ecological and economical impacts to this environment are real. You can enjoy the stable enviroment on your side of the world. This side of the world is faced with an insult to the status quo that could harm much and many both above and below the sea.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

When I first started diving in Lake huron The zebra mussels were first making an appearance. For years, all I would see are zebra mussels, crayfish and freshwater clams... Well, now when I dive, All I see is Zebra Mussels and Gobe Fish. The Gobes have nearly killed off all of the freshwater clams and the crayfish. This near complete irradication is only over the course of just over 1 decade. These are invasions that are caused by human interference (bilge of ships). Perhaps if the zebra mussel infestation had been controlled when it first became a problem (about 15 years ago), the ecosystem may have been strong enough to overcome the gobe infestation. I guess we will never know. Now all of my beloved wrecks are covered with zebra mussels. Gobe fish certainly don't eat them... So, if someone can possibly have an impact on an invasive species, they should. A place like cozumel could be a perfect place to set an example of how people can make right what they ##cked up in the first place. The great lakes certainly see a lot of divers, but not nearly the volume that cozumel does! We can't just sit back and expect that mother nature is going to make all of our problems right, because she won't!

 

[thelastdj]

Oh, and DIVECOZUMEL, thanks for contributing...........nothing.

Hey Tony, when you are done hugging the reefs of Cozumel maybe you could address some other issues of a salient nature before you try and tackle the apparent "Lionfish" invasion of Cozumel. First off you should be a responsible business owner and place a disclaimer on your website that states the following: " The photos on my site may or may not have been taken by my customers and I personally may have taken them from other websites and placed them on mine without permission." If you don't want to place a disclaimer similar to this then let me know and I will tell you what photo is mine and you can take it off. Second maybe the people who live and work in Cozumel might get the marine park officials to actually do their job and monitor the illegal fishing that goes on INSIDE the marine park. You know the boats that are out every morning down south?
Try dealing with those issues before you move on to others....

 

[Sue Sue]

This may be opening a big can O worms but I think it may open some ideas as well.
Most of you have heard about the Lion fish finally arriving here in Cozumel. They are native to the South Pacific, and by some error they found their way to Florida around 1992. Having few natural predators, they thrived and spread first north up the Atlantic coast then south into the Caribbean. A few months ago rumors started to spread about them being seen in Cozumel. On the 27th of Feb there was a specimen captured near Punta Sur by the marine park. It is official they are here. :shocked2:
Here is the issue; The non native Lion Fish will definitely affect the local species as they themselves are voracious predators and the local species have poor defenses against them. Apparently large grouper here are able to eat the venomous lion fish but to what degree is yet to be seen. If the marine park here begins a culling operation or allows trained Dive masters or locals to slow the spread, it would only really help on the west side of the island. The east side would become saturated as there would not be sufficient vigilance to keep the numbers down.
Picture this scenario: you are on a dive with your guide and other divers at Palancar, you spot a lion fish and everyone is pleased. The lion fish is actually a beautiful and interesting species, great for photo ops as they don't move very fast. Everyone moves in close, takes pictures and is generally pleased and happy to see such a colorful animal. Then when everyone is done, the dive master/guide takes out a small harpoon and kills it? Not good.
If we let them live, they will change the ecosystem here (to what degree we are not sure). If we kill them, we will not be stopping the problem as they will flourish on the east side anyway and constantly trickle around to the regularly dove areas. Perhaps we would see an increase in large grouper if they can indeed feed on them?
As caretakers of our reefs, this is a difficult issue. Humans constantly affect the environment no matter how good our intentions may be. We can study areas like the Bahamas where the fish has caused significant changes, for better or worse. We know that nature is constantly seeking balance in a very complex chain of life.
The question is, What can we truly do if anything to fix the problem?

We return to our regularly scheduled topic.