Sue Sue
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I am not a Marine Biologist, nor have I recently stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately, but here is my thought and just my opinion....and well, I may be the only one who puts any value in this...
, but FWIW ..... A few years back I do believe there were many more Lionfish on the reefs. However, with active hunting the numbers have decreased tremendously not only because the adult fish are being killed, but the babies are also killed which stops the cycle. At the same time, a good portion of the Lionfish not killed are heading to deeper water where they are finding refuge. They are able to multiply and grow larger there as they are not threatened by the only predator they have at this time which are humans with spears. Yes, Grouper for instance have been known to hunt and eat them, but, as we know they have not caught on to this yet for Cozumel. So, for Cozumel and other Marine Parks where Lionfish are at least hunted and killed, the reefs will be able to replenish itself with fish as the infant population is able to grow without the threat of Lionfish which do have a voracious appetite for infants fish.
Now, as I said, and again this is only my thought, I support my theory based on my trip last month. Over the course of 30 dives, I saw perhaps 10 Lionfish, adult and infant. Most of these were on the deeper dives and on sites that are not frequently visited. Of course, there were most likely more that I did not see, but, the number was much much less than say a few years ago. I also feel that over the course of the past few years the numbers have slowly gone down for each trip. I also saw the largest number of infant fish on the reefs that I have in 11 years. This could just be do to a natural cycle, or, could it be that the absence of Lionfish is now allowing the babies to survive?
Regardless if my theory holds any water or not, something is working in the Marine Park and at the least the efforts of hunting are at the least keeping the numbers in check.
