Lionfish...Okay this is funny

[Hank49]

hmmm If I were asked what my #1 favorite fish ever was, its definately the Lion Fish.

I have 0 issue with them being successful. I hope to one day see them in the wild. I have seen one once in the Red Sea. The rest have been in tanks.

I think its interesting how "humans" have to meddle with everything and make it their problem to solve. If we never had scuba, would we really see this as an issue?

I think, when its all said and done, we will all stand back and laugh when we realize WE are our own worst problem.

I think many have realized we are our own worst problem for quite some time now.
However, given our situation in Belize, I think it's worthwhile to see if we can control their numbers while there are still only a few that have been reported. We have a pretty good idea of what will happen if we do nothing.
If I want to see Lionfish, I'll go dive the Philippines. Here in Belize, they're going to be crab feces by the next day, or in my frying pan. Either way....dead meat.

 

[geokr]

Hank - I just read a REEF flyer that there are organizations in Belize offering $50 per lionfish to keep them from being established. You heard about that? I'd take that in a second.

 

[RonFrank]

Grouper are one of the major control mechanisms for Lion fish. Unfortunately, the reverse is true, and some species of Grouper are endangered (or at least protected, like Goliath).

Lionfish eat juvenile Grouper, and the results will be less grouper, and more Lionfish. Maybe not, but IMO the one who kills to most wins, and that is going to be the Lionfish.

For now IMO the best approach is to kilt these them there critters as fast we we done can go!

Maybe over time, they will become a part of our ecosystem, but it's going to take a while, and Lionfish are a big problem right now.

I'm guessing things will balance out over time. When whomever created balance in our Ocean, I'm not sure it included idiots dumping Lionfish in drains, and channels.

 

[Hank49]

Hank - I just read a REEF flyer that there are organizations in Belize offering $50 per lionfish to keep them from being established. You heard about that? I'd take that in a second.

I heard that about a month ago. I don't know if anyone has collected anything. So far I've only heard of a couple sitings and one capture. I have a friend who owns a resort and gets out to Turneffe, Lighthouse and Glovers with his customers and he hasn't seen any yet.
Belize isn't rich by a long shot. If they start showing up in big numbers and people bring them in by the dozens, I doubt they'll be able to make good on the bounty.

 

[geokr]

Belize isn't rich by a long shot. If they start showing up in big numbers and people bring them in by the dozens, I doubt they'll be able to make good on the bounty.

Yeah, well timing is everything. For sure they're going to be there in big numbers before long - it's time to start catching while the catching is good and that's while they're paying!

 

[Baracuda Smile]

Grouper are one of the major control mechanisms for Lion fish. Unfortunately, the reverse is true, and some species of Grouper are endangered (or at least protected, like Goliath).

Lionfish eat juvenile Grouper, and the results will be less grouper, and more Lionfish. Maybe not, but IMO the one who kills to most wins, and that is going to be the Lionfish.

For now IMO the best approach is to kilt these them there critters as fast we we done can go!

Maybe over time, they will become a part of our ecosystem, but it's going to take a while, and Lionfish are a big problem right now.

I'm guessing things will balance out over time. When whomever created balance in our Ocean, I'm not sure it included idiots dumping Lionfish in drains, and channels.

I agree as the lionfish in Okinawa, Japan are in balance. Yet on my last dive I saw four large grouper. Which, are are all still hunting and killing lionfiish. I also saw four large lion fish in the same cave, but no juvenile lionfish.

It sounds like instead of hunting and killing lion fish you should start a Grouper fish hatchery and when they get big enough release them into the wild. This will restore the balance that was caused by over fishing grouper. The grouper will kill the lion fish for you. If the Grouper gets out of control you can open the spearfishing band to control its numbers.

When are you selling your lionfish recepe book? You can use the proceeds to build your Grouper fish hatchery.

 

[redrover]

....Humans want to naturaly make every thing simple so they can understand it, yet the sea may be the most complex organisim on earth, and we must preserve it.

Gee this seems actually quite simple. Lion Fish did not live in the Atlantic ecosystem and somewhere somehow Man had a lot to do with introducing this species. We (Man) have finally realized bringing things that can, but do not yet already live, into an ecosystem is bad for a great deal of what is there.

It is a simple trade off. Cool, now we got Lion Fish. Bummer now we don't have A, B, C, D, E, F, G and along down the line, heck; what did we do that for? Why didn't we do preservation?

How is allow one invader bring destruction to many; conservation?

If lion fish were introduced by people dumping their pets then why not dump other types of forign fish to boost the lion fish food!

Oh MY GOD, dump in more? What century do you live in?

 

[orangetallguy]

I'll step in and use my first post to offer an opinion. This will sound crazy...but an option would be to release more lionfish. If there is a way to create a triploid lionfish (like has been done with many freshwater sport fishes) you could essentially ruin the reproductive potential of the species in the Atlantic. Eventually the species would get old and die off because a growing percentage of the mates are non-reproductive triploids (opposed to the natural reproductive diploid). yeah...it would hurt native fish populations in the short-term...but gradually the lionfish would decline. at the very least...its better than trying to dump new predators in and exacerbating the problem. i mean come on...we were taught as kids that is a bad solution to a problem...remember the old woman who swallowed a fly?

 

[geokr]

I agree as the lionfish in Okinawa, Japan are in balance. Yet on my last dive I saw four large grouper. Which, are are all still hunting and killing lionfiish. I also saw four large lion fish in the same cave, but no juvenile lionfish.

It sounds like instead of hunting and killing lion fish you should start a Grouper fish hatchery and when they get big enough release them into the wild. This will restore the balance that was caused by over fishing grouper. The grouper will kill the lion fish for you. If the Grouper gets out of control you can open the spearfishing band to control its numbers.

When are you selling your lionfish recepe book? You can use the proceeds to build your Grouper fish hatchery.

What happens in the Western Pacific is in no way - no way - the same as here. Why can't people get that through their heads? Groupers are not the solution, not here, not there. Read the report I posted earlier and you'll see that scientific studies have shown that Groupers avoid lionfish. Maybe a few will eat them, there's no accounting for fish stupidity any more than there is for human, but they are not a control. Not here, not there. Just the opposite. Not a single, knowlegeable scientific organization has even remotely determined that Groupers are even possibly an answer, in fact, the concern and the solid observations that back it up are that lionfish - here - are reducing the Grouper population and a lot of others as well. Get that fact screwed into your head then come up with another reasonable and practical solution. For here. We're all counting on you.

 

[Baracuda Smile]

I'll step in and use my first post to offer an opinion. This will sound crazy...but an option would be to release more lionfish. If there is a way to create a triploid lionfish (like has been done with many freshwater sport fishes) you could essentially ruin the reproductive potential of the species in the Atlantic. Eventually the species would get old and die off because a growing percentage of the mates are non-reproductive triploids (opposed to the natural reproductive diploid). yeah...it would hurt native fish populations in the short-term...but gradually the lionfish would decline. at the very least...its better than trying to dump new predators in and exacerbating the problem. i mean come on...we were taught as kids that is a bad solution to a problem...remember the old woman who swallowed a fly?

Orangetallguy, I want to be the first to offer you a warm welcome to scuba board. As all message board go things can get brutal, but we try and keep it light and fun. Hopefully you read my previous post. If not it is a good idea to read all posts before posting. Anyway in my post I was proposing starting a Grouper fish hatchery with native speicies of Atlantic Grouper, not introducing any new species.

The Pacific lionfish are so invasive because of the lack of predators, and the lack of coral reefs for minnows to mature.

So 1 conserve the reef
And 2 help the Atlantic Grouper control the lionfish