I didn’t see many Lionfish when I was in Coz in January so I asked one of the DMs about them. He said that a type of snapper in the area had started feeding on them. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
Erik
Erik
Lionfish populations
- Thread starter BrackaFish
- Start date
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OP
BrackaFish
Contributor
Well I now have had a chance to go back and dive a few favorite reefs after a two month layoff. Based on a small sample size and without any scientific or statistical validation, this is what I have observed.
Firstly, the Lionfish populations have definitely increased. At a very rough guess, I would say 40%-50% more per dive. For me a lightly infested reef would result in finding five or six Lionfish in a 50 minute dive. I would consider finding 10-12 Lionfish to be a heavy infestation.
Secondly, the ones found seemed to be slightly larger per fish than two months ago.
Thirdly, I didn’t see any smaller Lionfish, in the 1-3 inch size, that I usually have no trouble finding.
Fourthly, populations percentage per Reef did not seem to change. By that I mean that reefs that normally are heavy with Lionfish remained so and reefs that were lightly infested were still the ones that had the lower populations.
Lastly and most confusing to me was the fact that the overall fish population didn’t seem to be suffering. They were still tons of smaller and juvenile fish and the reefs seemed healthy.
Maybe something is keeping the Lionfish populations in check without divers helping? One note is that the dives were all less that 70 feet and so it is possible that hordes of Lionfish are living over the wall down in the abyss. Also the Lionfish encountered were not shy at all....sometimes here I have found that when they are hunted, shot at and missed a few times they tend to be more wary of divers. The ones I saw just didn’t care about me in the least.
Anyway thoughts both rational and irrational are welcome.
Firstly, the Lionfish populations have definitely increased. At a very rough guess, I would say 40%-50% more per dive. For me a lightly infested reef would result in finding five or six Lionfish in a 50 minute dive. I would consider finding 10-12 Lionfish to be a heavy infestation.
Secondly, the ones found seemed to be slightly larger per fish than two months ago.
Thirdly, I didn’t see any smaller Lionfish, in the 1-3 inch size, that I usually have no trouble finding.
Fourthly, populations percentage per Reef did not seem to change. By that I mean that reefs that normally are heavy with Lionfish remained so and reefs that were lightly infested were still the ones that had the lower populations.
Lastly and most confusing to me was the fact that the overall fish population didn’t seem to be suffering. They were still tons of smaller and juvenile fish and the reefs seemed healthy.
Maybe something is keeping the Lionfish populations in check without divers helping? One note is that the dives were all less that 70 feet and so it is possible that hordes of Lionfish are living over the wall down in the abyss. Also the Lionfish encountered were not shy at all....sometimes here I have found that when they are hunted, shot at and missed a few times they tend to be more wary of divers. The ones I saw just didn’t care about me in the least.
Anyway thoughts both rational and irrational are welcome.
I plan to only eat lionfish ceviche and guacamole when I'm down in September. Save some for me, please.
That is interesting because I saw just the opposite this past weekend in the panhandle. Of the four dives that I made on wrecks/bridge spans I did not see one lionfish and I am not sure that I have ever been able to say that. Not an adult, not juveniles, nothing. Had folks shooting on 3 of the 4 dives and they all came back empty of lionfish as well and these folks shoot them fist and snapper second.
OP
BrackaFish
Contributor
Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem.
That does seem odd as ever time I have been up there, it always seemed that there were several around. It would be interesting to see if that trend continues.
The rules here on shooting Lionfish are pretty strict and there are not a lot of local divers hunting, so it’s mostly DMs on the boats doing most of the culling and right now the boats are not going out.
caydiver
Contributor
I thought there was some talk about a year or so about the lionfish at least around Cayman showing signs of a gastric ulcer issue that was showing up in dead medium to large sized individuals that interfered with their digestive process. Does anyone remember? I will look at DOE site and FB to see if they mentioned it.
OP
BrackaFish
Contributor
Mmm. That would be nice if it didn’t affect any other types of fish. I spoke too soon about not seeing any juvie Lionfish. Today at Scott’s Dock I saw three under 2 inches. Also this guy follow me for almost the entire dive and went bonkers every time we passed a Lionfish. So even after a two month layoff, they still expect to be fed.
caydiver
Contributor
For some reason I thought there was mention of a digestive issue. So far this is all I can Find. FA209/FA209: First Report of an Emerging Ulcerative Skin Disease in Invasive Lionfish
OP
BrackaFish
Contributor
Now that diving is returning in some areas, I would be curious to hear any reports about the Lionfish population. Other than seeing one small one at Blue Heron bridge, most of my recent diving has been in the springs which are always Lionfish free. Thanks in advance for any reports and be safe.
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