Sad, isn't it? Budget cuts won't help much either. As far as I can see, the only people actually doing any control work on lionfish are divers and organizations like REEF. Perhaps that is the best way, though - if you get divers in sufficient quantities spearfishing lionfish, you might make a dent in the population. Also, if we can make it financially profitable for locals to kill/import live lionfish, that would also be a huge help. I realize they are doing this now, but it isn't a mass effort - we almost need to have the local conservation organizations on each of these islands talk to the fishermen and convince them to start hunting lionfish.
I will be working on lionfish for an internship this summer and several papers I've read so far basically say that it is near impossible to remove lionfish from the ecosystem - we now have to live with lionfish on Caribbean reefs as permanent residents, and hope the local fish populations can rebound somehow.
Thanks for the report on your visit!