Dear jd950,
How many predation videos have you seen? My guess is none, because it is very rare.
Your idea that feeding lion fish to upper level predators is all wet, is in my opinion very wrong. Yes, I am STRONGLY against feeding sharks, indeed very much against feeding groupers and eels which we did in the Park through the nineties (got scars to prove it) but introducing the delectable morsels of lion fish to the predators we have is in MHO a no brainer.
Although I'd rather eat them, getting the predators used to them makes more sense than most of the stuff I see on this forum.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Dave:
Dave: If you are asking about seeing videos of predation on lionfish, as opposed to fish eating dead lionfish, I have seen none that I can recall. If you mean general predation by other species I have witnessed and seen videos of such activities many times and I am sure you have seen it much more than I have.
Obviously you and I disagree on this topic, and that is fine. But you have to understand that you and others who promote feeding are really saying you know better than the researchers, marine biologists and other scientists who study this stuff…not me; I’m just a guy who studies what others say about this. FWIW, I have been concerned / interested in the lionfish issue for some time, and prior to the onset of culling activities on Cozumel. I am not a marine biologist and base my opinions on what I have read coupled with what I believe is basic animal behavior knowledge. Couple the research with a clear increase in aggressive interactions with divers by sharks and eels and it is obvious to me that we are trying to put out a fire by spraying it with gasoline.
Except for the entertaining anecdotal stories of eels, grouper and sharks eating lionfish and the fact that from time to time lionfish are found in the stomachs of grouper, I am unaware of any study or scientific literature that supports the “teach them to hunt” concept and the idea flies in the face of stimulus/response behaviors and what we collectively know about animal behavior.
If you can point me to some studies or research that support any benefit to the feeding of lionfish to native species by divers, I would be happy to read them and to discuss them if you like.
Here are some of the resources that led me to my beliefs:
Caribbean?s native predators unable to stop aggressive lionfish population growth | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PLOS ONE: Grouper as a Natural Biocontrol of Invasive Lionfish
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/...ologyEffectsInvasivePacificRed.pdf?sequence=1
https://peerj.com/preprints/45.pdf
Film Friday: Welcome to the Shark Circus (Gone Wrong)! When ?trained? sharks attack? | UNder the C
Really Dumb Idea #247: Training sharks to eat dead lionfish ? Sea Monster
https://peerj.com/preprints/139.pdf
Some of those are quite technical; some less so. Most simply address the idea that we cannot rely on native predators to control lionfish and those that touch on the feeding issue dismiss it as a bad idea. Humans created an environmental nightmare by introducing the lionfish into the Atlantic/Caribbean and we are at risk to do more harm by trying to “train” sharks and eels and grouper to repair our damage. Screwing with the natural behaviors of sea life while creating aggressive behaviors toward divers by creatures capable of inflicting injury seems to be bit foolish, does it not?
To make matters worse, there is some suggestion that as lionfish eat up the normal prey of lionfish, the grouper are not eating the lionfish but instead preying upon invertebrates and non-reef fish, which may in turn further inhibit the viability of grouper populations due to nutritional and behavioral issues. See, Albins, above. We all know that grouper tend to be cooperative hunters and I fear they are just as likely to “learn” to hunt cooperatively with the lionfish as they are to prey on them.
You might find the following publication interesting:
Invasive Lionfish: A Guide to Control and Management
It is a non-technical publication put out by a joint effort of numerous entities including NOAA, Reef.Org., the United Nations Environment Programme, the Caribbean Environment Programme, International Coral Reef Initiative, Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife Regional Activity Center, International Coral Reef Initiative and the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. I quote from page 42:
“Divers in some parts of the Atlantic have attempted to entice top predators (sharks, barracudas, grouper, snapper, and eels) to consume captured lionfish in the hopes that predators will learn to hunt and prey upon lionfish naturally. To date, there is no conclusive evidence that native predators are learning to prey upon lionfish through this practice. Unexpected effects of fish - Feeding activities include aggressive changes in predator behavior during encounters with divers. Recent incidents include severe injury to a lionfish collector’s hand from a barracuda bite (Figure 4.2) and harassment of other collectors by sharks and large groupers. These developments have proven the practice of feeding lionfish to predators as dangerous and counter - productive. In addition to serious human injury, the practice could also lead to injuries of top predators through diver responses to attack and/or increase in the ease of capture of predators that are conditioned to associate humans with food.”
Thinking we can get predators "used" to hunting live lionfish by feeding them dead ones makes no sense. It's not like making your child eat his or her vegetables...fish and eels don't think like we do. Teach the lionfish to have a flight response to a predator instead of a threat display and you might make some progress, I don't know.
Since you think all those folks who oppose feeding are wrong please tell me why...
It isn’t just eels;
Elk vs Photographer Update: Elk Put down After Altercation With Photographer Feeding wild animals is a simply a bad idea.
Bottom line is this: I have yet to hear one scientifically valid argument that feeding a dead fish to a predator will cause that predator to begin “hunting” what it was just fed. Frankly the idea is utter nonsense. You and I both know that sharks, eels and even groupers will eat or ''taste" anything that might be edible. We are not going to "train" them to seek a specific food. They may prey on lions, but it has nothing to do with us.
But, once enough divers in Cozumel are harassed and bitten by predators looking for a handout, Cozumel will enact restrictions on diving near such predators, or the aggressive animals will themselves be killed, or Cozumel will prohibit culling lionfish. It is fun to feed the animals and it is fun to think we are training them and makes us feel like we can justify feeding them, but there will be no good outcome from this practice.
