Lionfish in Playa del Carmen

[Clearwater]

According to Wikipedia, there is some speculation that the species was introduced into Atlantic waters after Hurricane Andrew (1992) destroyed an aquarium in South Florida. Apparently the DNA found so far in the fish recovered there has been determined to be from the same six or seven fish.

They may look pretty, but they sound pretty nasty.

 

[divinglife]

There is a new group on Facebook called Caribbean Lionfish trying to gather information on sightings and captures throughout the Caribbean so we can keep tabs on where they are spreading. Its receiving some heat from dive shops that think its bad advertisement to focus on that "problem" and its had some requests to shut down. I personally think its a great resource but would love to hear your opinions!! Would this affect your options when looking for a dive destination? If you get a chance to look at the group, did you find it negative for the dive destinations or informative??
THANKS!!

 

[docmartin]

I do not see it as negative. If I read that there were no more fish it'd be different. I know that there are tons of lionfish in the bahamas but I still like to go diving there.

 

[scubawife]

There is a new group on Facebook called Caribbean Lionfish trying to gather information on sightings and captures throughout the Caribbean so we can keep tabs on where they are spreading. Its receiving some heat from dive shops that think its bad advertisement to focus on that "problem" and its had some requests to shut down. I personally think its a great resource but would love to hear your opinions!! Would this affect your options when looking for a dive destination? If you get a chance to look at the group, did you find it negative for the dive destinations or informative??
THANKS!!

Why not just follow REEF's research? Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) | Diving That Counts

If you're on facebook, check out yesterday's post from Ocean Frontiers in Grand Cayman. They captured another one and have posted pics.

Any dive op who is sitting by hoping to pull the wool over customer's and potential customer's eyes by denying that the lionfish invasion is well underway in the Caribbean and that it will have negative effects is just plain dumb.

There are certainly some areas of reef in the Caribbean and along the MesoAmerican reef that are almost on their last legs as it is (mainly due to land based development related issues and the lack of decent or enforced marine protections). Lionfish in these areas could very well do away with what little marine life is left. Even so, pretending there is no issues doesn't make it go away.

If I'm diving anywhere in the Caribbean and we see them, my plan is to ask the DM and/or shop management if they've been in contact with REEF. If they haven't, I'll do that myself.

Most likely even with the most aggressive capture and cull programs the lionfish are inevitably in the Caribbean to stay. Eventually they'll have to find their place and they will end up having predators. If not, they'll die off when there's nothing left for them to eat.... In the meantime, attempts to control are worthwhile and so is research. Tracking the populations, doing DNA testing, etc., could help predict where they are going to be found next and help with potential long-term effective management solutions.

 

[Canard]

The last two days we have seen 3 Lionfish. The first was at Pared Verde and the other two were at Chunzumbul and Cueva Pargo. The Lionfish is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific area and is starting to be spotted in the Caribbean more and more. They tend to kill the smaller fish of these areas in large numbers. They are devastating to this area because the more they are seen the more of the smaller fish that are so vital to this ecosystem are being eaten. In the Bahamas and other Caribbean areas the Lionfish are being spotted regularly. They want all fisherman and divers to report or kill any Lionfish they see before the damage is irreversible. Here is a picture of the Red Lionfish we saw today at Chunzumbul and the link to a relating article.

Red Lionfish Invade Caribbean

This is just my bad luck. I had the misfortune to spot these Lionfish and photograph them. In my working life I am involved in conservation and in particular fighting the scourge of invasive introduced species. I manage a series of nature preserves and invasive species control is our number one management issue. Si I take a Mexican holiday and I immediately ID a hitherto unreported alien species. People will think I am a jinx.

 

[mitchsea]

Just returned from Puerto Morales and we saw this one in about 60 feet of water.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

Well I think the consensus is that they are here and they are not going to go away. We need to just get the word out to as many shops and guides as possible so we can try and do something about this. It looks like they are multiplying as we speak and soon the damage they do will be appearant. My brother an I bring a big plastic bag with us on every dive right now and think that is how the population control needs to start. The people diving every day need to help out.