LionFish in Bonaire

[ctaylo91]

Hi,
I'm heading to Bonaire soon and plan on hunting lion fish. Apparently now PADI says you need to be certified to hunt them, even tho I am a DiveMaster. If that's what I have to do that's what I'll do.
What I'm wondering is, what the lionfish population is like? And if anyone has some tips about this.

Thanks.

 

[tplyons]

Hopefully taking a trip to Bonaire soon. Subscribing.

 

[Damselfish]

Everyplace has it's own set of rules on who can hunt lionfish and how. PADI has no say in that.

 

[bamafan]

I don't know the rules on Bonaire but there were plenty last year. I don't know your certification level but I am a tech diver and took my scooter. On the dives up around red slave and the lighthouse in about 180' of water where the reef flattened out into the sand all you had to do was look for a lone coral head in the sand and it would be loaded with them. I counted over a dozen on numerous coral heads. Walt at Walt's rec tec at capt don's was shooting them and giving them away for ceviche. He would be a good one to check with. Oh and by the way they are good in ceviche.

 

[redacted]

Hi,
I'm heading to Bonaire soon and plan on hunting lion fish. Apparently now PADI says you need to be certified to hunt them, even tho I am a DiveMaster. If that's what I have to do that's what I'll do.
What I'm wondering is, what the lionfish population is like? And if anyone has some tips about this.

Thanks.

In what way does does your DM status qualify you to take lionfish around coral without damaging the coral?

 

[jameseg]

I don't think it's a PADI issue, it's a Bonaire issue. The entire island is protected by a marine park. As I understand it, there's something like 100 people certified by the park to hunt lionfish. Per the folks at the dive shop we used, anybody else caught hunting lionfish would be subject to fines and confiscation of gear.


To answer your question, though, in 25 dives earlier this month, we saw perhaps 15 total lion fish. We generally stuck to established dive sites and stayed between 35 and 80 feet deep.

James

 

[Byte Me]

We were there last February and saw plenty. The DMs on our boat hunted them on each dive and fed them to various fish and eels. Saw a spotted moray, octopus and a few variety of fish snacking on the dead lionfish. I've got video of a spotted moray that I thought would die trying to get one big lion fish down its gullet! This was taken at a site on the south side of Klein Bonaire.

 

[nimoh]

We were there last February and saw plenty. The DMs on our boat hunted them on each dive and fed them to various fish and eels. Saw a spotted moray, octopus and a few variety of fish snacking on the dead lionfish. I've got video of a spotted moray that I thought would die trying to get one big lion fish down its gullet! This was taken at a site on the south side of Klein Bonaire.

I personally don't like this practice. I think it teaches the various fish and eels to associate divers with a free lunch.

 

[chauncy19]

ctaylo91
think you have to dive deep for them now. was there and didn't notice a lot of them in 60 feet-ish of water so I follow what bamafan had to say. you do need some certification thing on Bonaire but i did meet someone last time (summer) who was hunting them too so its doable. good hunting!

 

[lmorin]

There are a number of diehard lion fish hunters on Bonaire. They make an effort to clean the dive sites of all known intruding fish and are doing a pretty good job of it, at least on the named sites. Carcasses are then generally taken to the CIEE marine biology center for assessment. In order to spear lion fish on Bonaire, you must first take a course on Bonaire that is specific to Bonaire, using the special type of spear used and registered with STINAPA (the local Marine conservation management organization) on Bonaire. As I understand the situation, most so-trained divers are not allowed to search and kill on their own, but can do so under under the supervision of an instructor.