Lionfish

[Alex777]

Well, they are definitely here. I just got back from a dive at Turtle Reef on Grand Cayman. I found a Lionfish at the base of the miniwall (to the right) in about 60' of water on a coral head. I am going back now to take a photo of it. I guess the Lionfish invasion has started, and was inevitable.

 

[CJ's]

have you reported it to DOE yet?

 

[Alex777]

No, but I will. Does anyone know what their strategy is going to be?

here's the intruder:

 

[ChunksJR]

They're all over Guantanamo Bay. Beautiful fish, unfortunally killing numberous local fish and causing pain on unsuspecting divers.

My Strategy - SPEARGUN

 

[CJ's]

You need to report any sighting as quickly as possible to DOE and they will go and remove the fish.
They are also trying to license dive staff to be able to remove them. Not sure when this will happen. There have been more than 20 sightings in the three islands since November and I believe they have caught approx 12 of these.
CJ

 

[Northerndiver1985]

report it with exact details on where it was located, they are extremely hard to find on a dive site, you may have to go down with them to point it out to the DOE staff members. Don't leave it too long.

 

[jdcpa]

There have been at least eight reported on LC since the first of the year.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Why, pray tell, would one have to be licensed to kill a fish?

 

[Alex777]

I think the idea is to license people to kill them * on scuba *, which is against the law here. Also, people will be licensed, I assume, to hunt them in marine parks, which is also not allowed.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

And some sort of offical permission would be needed to even catch them, not just to kill them. It is illegal under Cayman Marine Law to catch any marine life while scuba diving.