Mr. Black
Contributor
Reef.org is a great reference, but Dr James Morris and Paula Whitfield from NOAA are subject matter experts. The main researcher at reef.org is a scientist from Oregon. NOAA, reef.org and the USGCS do collaborate though. As far accurate, up to date information, the folks at NOAA have it. We take lionfish to the lab at NOAA and Duke for research quite frequently and usually once a month someone from NOAA is on one of the boats for lionfish research.
Cool. I have found my bible now: Morris, J.A., Jr. (Ed.). 2012. Invasive Lionfish: A Guide to Control and Management.
Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Special Publication Series Number
1, Marathon, Florida, USA. 113 pp.
This Publication Is Available From:
Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Inc.
2796 Overseas Highway, Suite 119
Marathon, Florida 33050 USA
Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
or
NOAA Central Library
NCCOS | Our Research Publications
:cool2:
This will ensure I do not propagate faulty information on the boat.
Yesterday we had a look around the shallows in the channel between the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis at 35-60 feet depth and happy to report that there were areas where you had to look very hard to find lionfish.
The reefs closer to shore are another story though. It's a massacre down there. You can shoot them until you reach your turning pressure and barely make an impact.
No shortage here of people willing to get involved. Restaurants are starting to figure out how to cook 'em and divers are keen to help.
Now a new problem is to educate people on how to shoot lion-fish with minimal impact. It's no good to me if they crawl around the reef on their hands and knees and shoot barrel sponges... :blinking:
This is going to be a long process... On the upside, my LDS here is on the ball and lion-fish issues are starting to become part of the boat briefings.