New policy on lionfish in the park

[MMM]

This is my point about using tools that are not as efficient as the sling and maybe the elf, the nets can hit the coral and sponge easier than the slings or spear type tools. I remember using the mask boxes, nets, bags, the collateral damage was worse than the spear tools.

Nets would have been fine if he hadn't stopped to brag.

 

[MMM]

One of the problems we are starting to see is some of the marine life starting to associate DIVERS with a meal. So we may start to see a return to the day of bringing them up simply to prevent this behavior.

 

[1KWIK_69]

While I could definitely go for some Lionfish tacos right about now, I think it might be a good idea to leave as many of the dead or wounded lionfish on the reef in one piece as possible to become fish food. Maybe after the local groupers have enough of them as meals, they'll start hunting the live ones? It would be great if we could teach the local fish that lionfish are a tasty treat. Just think of how many huge, well fed grouper would be around with that good of a food supply available!

 

[mjatkins]

I think after a diver has been diving there for an amount of time a DM should be able to let them hunt, just like a DM asses (at least should) ability before doing advanced dives and swim throughs.

I think the parenthesized portion of your comment says it all. I have seen people on day trips from Playa taken into the wreck with no idea who they are, or how they dive. I have seen Discover Scuba students at 65 feet on Tormentos. I see daily, groups in the park with people wearing gloves and carrying knives. Unfortunately, there are some DMs/instructors/Dive Ops here who do not do a very good job of evaluating their divers and keeping them from doing things they are not supposed to, or are not qualified to do. Having the DM decide who is and isn't qualified to hunt results in the same issue. A guy wants to hunt, and a DM wants the tips, the dive op wants the business, and if you tell him no there is another dive op next door who will gladly tell him yes. If we were better at self regulating as a community your idea would indeed be the best solution, unfortunately I don't believe we are in that position.

 

[Zman96]

One of the problems we are starting to see is some of the marine life starting to associate DIVERS with a meal. So we may start to see a return to the day of bringing them up simply to prevent this behavior.

We had a large grouper following us for more than 20 minutes on Cedral Wall even though we weren't actively hunting. Every time I turned around he was 5 feet away from me.

 

[1KWIK_69]

I have seen people on day trips from Playa taken into the wreck with no idea who they are, or how they dive.

Don't even get me started on allowing people with amnesia to dive!

 

[firstdive2005]

We had a large grouper following us for more than 20 minutes on Cedral Wall even though we weren't actively hunting. Every time I turned around he was 5 feet away from me.

That's the white one with the black on the tip of it's tail, right?
It also followed my wife and I as I was drifting/hunting for lionfish. It would come within inches of me. I kept pointing at my sling and trying to point to the reef, like trying to get a hound to try and hunt. Didnt work. The great part to this story is I never saw one lionfish on the reef. That was cool, because months before there where lots. He followed us to the end of the reef and turned around. It was my wifes' fourth dive. It blew her away this fish the size of her was following us around. I had told her prior that the snappers did this, she wasnt quite ready for a 2 hundred pound fish to follow. lol. Next time I have him follow I will point the lionfish out to him and see if he will get it. Havent had the chance to try that yet.

 

[Zman96]

That's the white one with the black on the tip of it's tail, right?
It also followed my wife and I as I was drifting/hunting for lionfish. It would come within inches of me. I kept pointing at my sling and trying to point to the reef, like trying to get a hound to try and hunt. Didnt work. The great part to this story is I never saw one lionfish on the reef. That was cool, because months before there where lots. He followed us to the end of the reef and turned around. It was my wifes' fourth dive. It blew her away this fish the size of her was following us around. I had told her prior that the snappers did this, she wasnt quite ready for a 2 hundred pound fish to follow. lol. Next time I have him follow I will point the lionfish out to him and see if he will get it. Havent had the chance to try that yet.

Yep that was the one, he was quite big that is for sure. We only saw 1 lionfish on that dive in over 65 minutes, so maybe he is hunting them himself... fingers crossed to that one. There were a couple of times his mouth was right next to my head and you could see right in there, that was very cool.

 

[williss]

Don't even get me started on allowing people with amnesia to dive!

Hahaha ......I knew there was a reason to follow this thread to the end.

Just joined this BBoard today & this is actually the first post that I've read. Very interesting & engaging.

I certainly hope all works out well in your Lionfish control efforts.

 

[craracer]

How far do they bolt? Of all the videos I have seen - you have to get within 6-12" to spear them with the ELF and Liontamer.....rarely if ever do you see them take off or bolt or move.

I advocate reasonably close shots (with safety in mind of course). I believe that doing so insures a clean shot, and decreases the chances of hitting unintended objects.

I've seen Lionfish "bolt" a distance of approximately 2m. Most of the time, it's straight for cover. I think that we are able to get so close because they have not developed an innate fear (yet). For all practical purposes, I think at this juncture we can say that the Lionfish doesn't have a consistent predator. They appear to have become a "small" top predator. Why waste energy fleeing when historically they haven't been stalked?