Lionfish spearing regulations in North Carolina

[handben]

My son and I just got back from the Bahamas where we took a liking to spearing lionfish. We learned how to clean them relatively safely as well. They are some good eating. We came up with a technique that worked pretty well for us. We each had a pole spear - one with a 3 prong paralyzer tip and the other a single point single barb tip. One of us would spear and immobilize the lionfish and hold it against the sand while the other would drive the single tip spear through near its head. We could load lionfish up on the single tip pole to carry back to the boat.

We got to talking about how much fun it would be to spear lionfish in North Carolina. Before buying more equipment, I want to find out what the laws/regulations are regarding taking lionfish down there. Thanks for the help. Ben

 

[Akyla]

Unregulated invasive specie. Kill them all. No NC rules on them.

The big ones are on the deeper sites.
Good luck and be careful of the spines, trust me it does hurt.

 

[Scubapro67]

As the water warms you'll see plenty on the regular wrecks, plus many on the deeper ledges. No limits - just keep them away from your fellow divers (use a decent container to store and bring to the surface).
Use a 6ft pole spear with a single point (no barb or wings) - then collect into a container. Have seen home made plastic tubes or boxes with one way flaps that work pretty well at depth etc... Also seen folks shear the spines off before putting into a container.

Would be kinda nice to see some of the bigger dive shops stock containers and encourage lionfish round-ups??

 

[Tortuga James]

Captain Bobby Edwards and wife Renate gathering up Lionfish using converted cat litter buckets. Very cool.

[video=youtube;VZQ48e0oqcA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZQ48e0oqcA[/video]

 

[Randy g]

This is my NC lionfish set up.

 

[McCainiac]

What part of North Carolina are you in?

 

[uncfnp]

For containment, check out The Zookeeper

ZKStore.com

I saw this used for the first time 2 weeks ago while shore diving the east side of Bonaire with Bas Tol and it is a very effective system. I am all for supporting the inventor but I understand it is very easy to make with PVC (?) and a funnel. Bas thinks the funnels from NAPA, worked best and lasted longest.

Happy Lionfish hunting!

 

[Tortuga James]

What part of North Carolina are you in?

John, Randy is from Va Beach and is a Tortuga regular.

 

[yardpro]

in grand turk everyone was simply spearing them, then using a pair of shears (scissors) to cut the spines off. once the dorsal and pectorial fins are cut off they will not "sting" you... they were very easy to once that was done.

 

[Randy g]

in grand turk everyone was simply spearing them, then using a pair of shears (scissors) to cut the spines off. once the dorsal and pectorial fins are cut off they will not "sting" you... they were very easy to once that was done.

That's exactly how I collected dinner last year. The tube is something that is a little quicker than a stringer and the sharks cant see them inside. Although I am sure they smell and hopefully I can collect a bunch in one dive instead of just picking up a couple on the way back up to the boat. I am not a big fan of carrying shark snacks off my side, with a bunch of sharks tailing me.

FWIW, the toxin is in the stinger bones. After snipping one last year and prepping it on the back of Tortuga, I grabbed one and a cut spine stuck my thumb. Burnt like hell for an hour afterwards. Felt like a blow torch was pointing at it. YMMV