jawfish May 30, 2012 Share May 30, 2012 I had this thought today while reading about the P. volitans invasion in the Caribbean, that none of the major livestock suppliers (liveaquaria, etc. ) offer lionfish from the Caribbean; all are exclusively from the indo-pacific region. would it be possible to convince these suppliers to start catching and offering Caribbean caught, invasive lionfish in lieu of or as an option of the indo-pacific lionfish? I imagine it would be cheaper to transport (if not to catch), and would be a more ecologically sensitive solution to getting the lionfish from their native habitat. Also, I'd imagine hobbyists would love this. According to this article (see attached), lionfish are found in densities of 390 ind./ha in the Caribbean compared to 2.2-80 ind/ha in the indo-pacific, so it would be easier to collect these individuals in the Caribbean. These are just some thoughts of mine, feel free to critique them. I feel it would be cool if hobbyists demanded the invasive lionfish over the natural range ones from suppliers. Arias-Gonzales et al 2011 - Predicted impactoftheinvasivelionfish Pterois volitans on the foodweb of a Caribbean coral reef.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viktoriia May 30, 2012 Share May 30, 2012 That is a great idea! I was in the Caymans earlier this spring and there was an article about the lionfish now in the caribbean. The local beers on the island were donating a small amount to some organization get rid of these so call pests from the waters. I bet some of the local governments would offer some incentive if there was a supplier with the goal in mind to capture these fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef May 30, 2012 Share May 30, 2012 I bet if these countries dealing with the invasion could make a bit of money that it may be able to be done...they already organize spear fishermen to catch and kill them, and now evem some people have figured out ways to eat them, so if they can figure out a way to export them live they should be able to do that too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad May 30, 2012 Share May 30, 2012 I'm on it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 Way to go Chad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 did they taste good is my question??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubberFrog May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 tastes like chicken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 Sea life inc sells them: marine fish p2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Mann May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 They are so over populated down there. people are eating them and everyone i talked to said they taste great. Ive got a friend who just got back and she said they actually had them on the menu at a resturant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad May 31, 2012 Share May 31, 2012 Firm, flaky white fish. Like a small snapper or grouper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawfish June 4, 2012 Author Share June 4, 2012 Sea life inc sells them: marine fish p2 That's great! We just need to get the big guys on board. I was thinking of writing an email to some companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet June 7, 2012 Share June 7, 2012 I thought this was an interesting topic, one I hadn't really explored much on. So yesterday I went to the Aquatic Nuisiance Species branch in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to see what all is being done by the Agency in regards to Lionfish in Florida. The response I got was pretty surprising at first. "Not much." As it turns out the USGS is the most active in Lionfish control, USFWS, and NOAA are reluctant to enter the arena and put funds towards stopping the spread of Lionfish and reducing already soaring populations. The reason for this reluctance is how late the action would be coming. As the biologist told me, Lionfish.pdf Lionfishmedical.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawfish June 7, 2012 Author Share June 7, 2012 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad June 7, 2012 Share June 7, 2012 When I was in Cayman last March, there was a researcher who was studying them for a paper. He said to affect the population at all, more than 10% of the population would need to be removed monthly... If you think about their depth range (to ~600 ft), it's a pretty thin sliver that divers will be able to affect. Sad as it is, likely, the population will rise until it is food limited and then eventually fall to an equilibrium value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte June 7, 2012 Share June 7, 2012 Agreed with Chad. Lionfish, unfortunately, will also inhabit deeper waters than we can safely reach on scuba. I'm afraid they are here to stay. We just need to keep doing our best to over-fish them. I'm just back from the annual GMU coral reef class I take to The Bahamas every year. I first dove on this particular trip in August 2006, and we always dive the blue hole outside of Nassau toward the end of the trip. The first time I dove this site in 2006, there was one Lionfish on the blue hole dive, and the crew captain speared it that day. I just dove this same location last week, and I speared 37 Lionfish on one single dive. 37 - which shatters my previous record of 12 in Belize. And I either missed or hit-and-it-got-away at least 10 more. I only surfaced b/c I was low on air, and we had to move dive sites. Close-up of dive buddy Laura with the bag: I hit HUGE ones, big ones, medium-sized ones, and a few teeny fish-stick sized ones. There were SO MANY more for the taking; it is a regular infestation. Sadly, there use to be tons of juvenile fish at this dive site, and they just are not there anymore. Yes, they are good-eating fish, and I was also cutting out the stomachs to show the students the gut contents. Many had nothing, while we found crabs, small shrimps and gobies in others. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawfish June 10, 2012 Author Share June 10, 2012 Ok i just realized you can buy caribbean lionfish off of liveaquaria. Still, I wish they advertized the option more than they do now. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+36+279&pcatid=279 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan June 10, 2012 Share June 10, 2012 Too bad they can't be caught and shipped to places that need food. An incentive from the government would be nice for fishermen as a tax break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaddc June 10, 2012 Share June 10, 2012 It looks like Lionfish are susceptible to ciguatera according to recent work (http://www.greenantilles.com/2011/11/22/more-data-emerges-about-ciguatera-toxin-in-lionfish/). That would make them not good eats for wide scale production and it would be marginalized to a delicacy like the barracuda or puffer fish. Plus, I'd worry about net catching the fish. The spines can poke into the meat of another fish and poison the flesh. Definitely a spear or hook and line type catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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