Lionfish roundup
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Reg Braithwaite
Contributor
Are Lionfish somehow violating the natural ebb and flow of predator/prey cycles? Are we too impatient to wait for a parasite or top predator to figure out how to prey on Lionfish? Or is it perhaps that our new economic overlords are eating the fins of the Lionfish's natural predator?
IOW, why are we trying to interfere with Lionfish decimating all the pretty coloured fish on the reefs?
IOW, why are we trying to interfere with Lionfish decimating all the pretty coloured fish on the reefs?
Lobstah Slayah
Contributor
Because they are invasive bastages and need to die before they kill all of the other fish!
Reg Braithwaite
Contributor
Is there a bounty for Crown of Thorns Starfish as well?
jc60625
Registered
it seems lionfish are a popular aquarium/hobbyist fish... why don't the all the fish stores start making deals with diveshops in NC, florida, and the bahamas and start getting their "farm raised" atlantic/caribbean lionfish from them instead of pillaging reefs in the philippines, indonesia, etc?
either that or convince our 'economic overlords' that eating lionfish spines will bring prosperity and we'll start making a killing on lionfish soup.
either that or convince our 'economic overlords' that eating lionfish spines will bring prosperity and we'll start making a killing on lionfish soup.
Guba
Contributor
Are Lionfish somehow violating the natural ebb and flow of predator/prey cycles?
Yes. There is nothing in the world natural about lionfish being anywhere near the Atlantic.
Are we too impatient to wait for a parasite or top predator to figure out how to prey on Lionfish?
It's not a matter of patience. A natural predator of lionfish in the Atlantic may never occur. Even if one does show up eventually, it may very well be too late to stem the destruction of other indigenous species or at least the harm to their populations.
Is there a bounty for Crown of Thorns Starfish as well?
At one time, I believe there was, though I don't have precise data on that. I do know that there were government sponsored programs that provided volunteer organizations of divers with weapons (big syringes of poison) to hunt down and kill as many crown of thorns as possible.
either that or convince our 'economic overlords' that eating lionfish spines will bring prosperity and we'll start making a killing on lionfish soup.
I suggested two years ago that we should all start spreading the rumor (especially in the Asian markets) that lionfish soup had Viagra-like and aphrodesiac effects. Those little suckers would start disappearing from the reefs faster than crawdads at a Bayou barn dance.
Yes. There is nothing in the world natural about lionfish being anywhere near the Atlantic.
Are we too impatient to wait for a parasite or top predator to figure out how to prey on Lionfish?
It's not a matter of patience. A natural predator of lionfish in the Atlantic may never occur. Even if one does show up eventually, it may very well be too late to stem the destruction of other indigenous species or at least the harm to their populations.
Is there a bounty for Crown of Thorns Starfish as well?
At one time, I believe there was, though I don't have precise data on that. I do know that there were government sponsored programs that provided volunteer organizations of divers with weapons (big syringes of poison) to hunt down and kill as many crown of thorns as possible.
either that or convince our 'economic overlords' that eating lionfish spines will bring prosperity and we'll start making a killing on lionfish soup.
I suggested two years ago that we should all start spreading the rumor (especially in the Asian markets) that lionfish soup had Viagra-like and aphrodesiac effects. Those little suckers would start disappearing from the reefs faster than crawdads at a Bayou barn dance.
ScubaSteve2000
Contributor
I've heard that they tast like chicken.
Wouldn't it be a lot simpler for the states affected by these lionfish to pay a bounty of, say, $10 each? The local dive operators could give the bounty hunters a ticket which could be turned in at any bank for a payout for each one turned in. Then the state or a contractor could collect the fish and tickets stubs each week or month. Or maybe that's too simple.
tarponchik
Contributor
Lionfish will stay in shallow waters near the shore, where there's plenty of food for them, and where divers don't go. You don't need scuba to get them there, and local kids with masks and snorkels can catch hundreds a day if they are paid say $3-5 a piece. But Klein Bonaire is too far for them, and it will soon become a lionfish sanctuary.
Unless groupers start eating lionfish, this battle is lost before it started.
Unless groupers start eating lionfish, this battle is lost before it started.
Sinbad the Diver
Contributor
I'm not sure I have all the facts, but from what I saw about the crown off thorns on the GBR, they were natural, just had a population explosion beyond what people had seen before. If that's not true, then I would say yes there should be....
but if they are a natural part of an ecosystem, they should not be messed with IMO....whereas the lionfish is not native to the caribean and has the potential to destroy native species. OTOH, I'm not completely convinced through natural means that something will evolve to control it, the question is when that happens, will the damage done be so severe that it will be too late.
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