Lionfish Hunter PADI certification

[Baydoun]

I've heard of one instance. Not 100% sure it was legit, though. But my question was around how the statement that "fishermen were saying that in the past few years they were catching a lot of lionfish" was worded. The term fishermen was used, not divers. So I couldn't tell how they were being caught.

However, even if they haven't yet been regularly caught on H&L, it doesn't mean that they can't be. Hogfish used to be considered to be able to be caught by spear only not too long ago. In the past few years, the H&L crowd has figured out how catch hogfish reliably.

Might not be the same with lionfish, but if H&L fishing does figure it out they can do a lot more to control the population than divers can. Especially in deeper water.

Yes sorry for the way I worded that, it was unclear. The men diving for those lionfish, are fishermen by trade.

 

[Johnoly]

I've never heard of a lionfish being caught on a hook and line.

Although rare, YES there have been hook and line captures with live bait mostly on wreck sites. I've not heard of H&L with artificial bait yet. And being a bug hunter, several of us have taken LF's with our lobster loopers because we didn't want to damage our main speargun shafts shooting into the rock

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

what i meant was to not make the ceviche with ouzo.

Now drinking ouzo (so long as its chilled) whilst eating ceviche totally fine.

Well in that case, στην υγεία μας! (to our health), οπα! (no translation needed)

 

[johndiver999]

Why not just ask the DM to teach you instead of paying for a card? The DM I dove with in Cartagena doesn’t put them in a container, once he spears it he quickly snips the barbs and hooks them on a line.

I just started doing it without any DM or "certification". I don't even remember how many times I have been spined, probably half of the accidents have occurred on the boat when trying to transfer or handle them. Those little buggers are evil!

Once you get stung, you will wish it happened to someone else. Getting someone to show you some handling protocols is valuable, whether you pay for it or not.

 

[schuylerclark]

I know of several places that want lionfish hunting to occur because of the problems they create, but they don't want people with no clue going out and doing it. They therefore require training. You may think of this as a silly specialty, but it serves a purpose, and in some places it is required.

This is partly why I've asked this question, since I expect that I'll enjoy LF hunting and look to incorporate it into travel diving in the coming years. It sounds like generally most places won't ask for a card, with Bonaire being an exception. If you know of a list of rules by country, that'd be something I'd find quite useful.

Thank you everyone for so many responses - it seems like with a lot of specialty courses, the real value may depend on the quality of the instructor. I guess I'll see about it when we get there.

 

[RobPNW]

If you kill these things and bring them back, what do you do with them? Do dive centers donate them to local restaurants or fish markets?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I didn't see any answers to the gloves question. I'd be curious if anyone who cuts the spines off underwater (I've had conversations with people who do, but you have to know what you are doing, they were using these knives: ) wears gloves like these for protection: .

 

[Belzelbub]

I didn't see any answers to the gloves question. I'd be curious if anyone who cuts the spines off underwater (I've had conversations with people who do, but you have to know what you are doing, they were using these knives: ) wears gloves like these for protection: .

I used to carry one of those knives, but I lost it at some point. I added that knife, and the EMT shears I now use with lionfish spines as a consideration. On a dive where lionfish are the main target, I don’t cut spines as I have my lionfish tube with me. They are more for dives where I may come across a few lionfish, but they weren’t the main target. Don’t want to put that on the stringer with spines intact.

For gloves, you really want gloves that offer puncture protection. My old gloves just had cut resistance. Dorsal spines on snapper would go right through the weave, and I have no doubt that a lionfish spine would find it’s way to skin as well.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you kill these things and bring them back, what do you do with them? Do dive centers donate them to local restaurants or fish markets?

The place where we stayed in Roatan offered the course, and a friend and I were planning to take it. We didn't because we didn't see any lionfish at all in our first days of diving. We ended the two weeks not seeing a single one. I guess that shows it is an effective program.

But someone went out on a night dive after taking the course, and he did quite well. The restaurant made ceviche with it, and there was enough to feed a crowd. It was quite good.

 

[Scraps]

Some random observations:

1. I don't know what's in the specialty course, so I can't comment on whether it's a good value. I doubt it would be recognized by places like Roatan that require training, partly because their training emphasizes how not to hurt the reef while spearing lionfish (only with a short pole spear).

2. No certification is required to hunt them in Florida. I'm not even sure you need a recreational fishing license to do so.

3. As to the need for specialized training, I'm skeptical. Lionfish are incredibly easy to hunt. They are easy to spot: they look like a cloud of fins and spines. And because they are confident about their invulnerability, they let you get real close. The only "tricks" are to approach very slowly and shoot from point blank range. Nothing someone like @Johnoly couldn't teach in a few minutes.

4. As to whether the hunting is having an effect: I think it can have an effect in coastal waters shallow enough for hunters to reach. However, lionfish thrive at depths much deeper than divers go, and I doubt those (presumably larger) populations are feeling any pressure from hunting.

5. They are delicious. When we were in Roatan, our hotel cooked up my catch each day I brought some back. In Antigua, the cook on the boat made ceviche from them.

6. I am in the "don't surrender your catch to sharks" camp, but the sharks I've encountered so far have been discouraged by gentle poking. I might lose my convictions on the subject in the face of a determined shark.