lionfish spearing

[Scuba_Jenny]

Nice video. Love that spear. With the longer pole, the hands don't get close to the fish as like with a shorter LF pole spear.

 

[Nick A]

Yep, I had one that had been in the cooler over two hours nick me on Saturday. Wasn't bad, but I was impressed - it barely pricked the back of my hand and afterwards I couldn't find a puncture. About a minute later it felt like a sunburn or jelly sting and a bit later there was an ache in between my knuckles. The faucet in the tiki bar restroom wasn't very hot so I went and had a margarita. I think the discomfort was more from worrying it would turn into the "like a blowtorch" descriptions I've heard.

Usually the venom breaks down fairly quickly after the lionfish dies. So after 2 hours the venom should have been pretty much broken down. I've been stuck by a live one and its was definitely a torch and sledgehammer feeling. It was terrible, wouldnt wish it on anyone.

 

[opie712]

Went with the mako spear just waiting on its arrival

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Not good news - Lionfish: Venomous invader found in deep water - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I've heard reports of them being MUCH deeper. We have know for some time that there is a huge reservoir of fish much deeper than recreational depths...The spearing efforts will help with control on the reefs which are aggressively hunted, but I assume that juveniles recruiting from the deeper waters will be a problem for the foreseeable future.

 

[HowardE]

They needed a sub expedition to know there were lionfish deep???

Every wreck I've done deeper than 180' is loaded with big lionfish.

We even documented this for the Miami-Dade DERM a few months ago on a 250' wreck in North Miami.
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[HalcyonDaze]

They needed a sub expedition to know there were lionfish deep???

Every wreck I've done deeper than 180' is loaded with big lionfish.

We even documented this for the Miami-Dade DERM a few months ago on a 250' wreck in North Miami.
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Doesn't surprise me, but it's still bad news. I'm not sure the recreational spearos in shallow water can keep them down if they have a population reserve of big mommas down on the deeper reefs. Again, I'd be interested to know if we have any native species that will eat them. I can't see lionfish derbies alone holding them back.

While it looks like the little gluttons might actually be capable of eating themselves to death, I'm not crazy about that plan - Lionfish invasion: The invasive fish are eating so many native species that they?re obese. - Slate Magazine

 

[danvolker]

Doesn't surprise me, but it's still bad news. I'm not sure the recreational spearos in shallow water can keep them down if they have a population reserve of big mommas down on the deeper reefs. Again, I'd be interested to know if we have any native species that will eat them. I can't see lionfish derbies alone holding them back.

While it looks like the little gluttons might actually be capable of eating themselves to death, I'm not crazy about that plan - Lionfish invasion: The invasive fish are eating so many native species that they?re obese. - Slate Magazine

I would be interested in seeing what would happen if divers around Juno Beach and Jupiter ( where there is a very large shark population of bulls and reefs) began injuring Lionfish and looking for ways to make them "accessable" to the sharks.....Emerald and a few other boats are bringing the bulls in by spearing jacks....and getting bulls all over them--this would be the perfect time to attempt to get the sharks to start eating lionfish....instead of these guys feeding the sharks the speared jacks....

From what JIm Abernethy tells me from all the shark work he has been involved with in the last few years, sharks are far more intelligent than we used to think....much closer to family dog smart...AND they can learn about food effectively.
The issue would be, if they decide they like the easy wounded lionfish meals enough....would they decide to grab non-wounded lionfish?

Could a group like Emerald, carry alive but wounded lionfish with them from a dive inception( a previous dive where a half dozen had already been collected) without the lionfish dieing off before the sharks showed up...the struggling of the lionfish is going to be a key to triggering the right behavior.

Thoughts?

 

[BVickery]

I would be interested in seeing what would happen if divers around Juno Beach and Jupiter ( where there is a very large shark population of bulls and reefs) began injuring Lionfish and looking for ways to make them "accessable" to the sharks.....Emerald and a few other boats are bringing the bulls in by spearing jacks....and getting bulls all over them--this would be the perfect time to attempt to get the sharks to start eating lionfish....instead of these guys feeding the sharks the speared jacks....

From what JIm Abernethy tells me from all the shark work he has been involved with in the last few years, sharks are far more intelligent than we used to think....much closer to family dog smart...AND they can learn about food effectively.
The issue would be, if they decide they like the easy wounded lionfish meals enough....would they decide to grab non-wounded lionfish?

Could a group like Emerald, carry alive but wounded lionfish with them from a dive inception( a previous dive where a half dozen had already been collected) without the lionfish dieing off before the sharks showed up...the struggling of the lionfish is going to be a key to triggering the right behavior.

Thoughts?

Dan,

I have to say, this is a great idea and really worth the effort to think about doing.


After looking at the Mako site some more, found the ideal purchase for me once I get my skills set to where it is feasible to do it, but their 3 piece pole spear.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Here's an interesting read on the lionfish... Apparently they have so much to eat that they are becoming obese!!!
Lionfish invasion: The invasive fish are eating so many native species that they?re obese. - Slate Magazine