"The Wetter The Better" save lionfish from death

[ONESPEED]

I have no objection to killing the fish. It's just not an effective solution and the spines present a risk if the diver gets careless.

We may not get rid of them all but thinning the herd certainly isn't going to hurt. I know the risks of shooting a lionfish and accept them.

 

[Pura Vida Diver]

Purely as a matter of law........

I'm one of those guys who occasionally has to apply state statutes to the taking of aquatic species on the waters of the State of Florida. The FWCC, and state statutes, do not regulate the taking of a non-native and invasive species, such as lion fish. Much like armored catfish and tilapia in fresh water, iguana, monitor lizards and eucalyptus trees on land, lion fish are fair game to the extreme. There are no size, bag, gender or capture method limitations on harvesting, or for that matter simply dispatching them in place and moving on.

Let me repeat this, there are no laws prohibiting anyone from taking or eliminating as many as they want or possibly can. In fact, every state wildlife biologist I have spoken with encourages it. The population of fish we have here are a combination of territorial spread and captive population (aquarium fish) release. They don't belong in this ecosystem and will have a detrimental effect on an already strained native population. The taking of adults of the species whenever possible will help control the population and at the least possibly slow the spread of the fish. At this point, man is likely the only effective predator to the lion fish.

Pass me the wasabi.

PVD

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I support Bill Walker as well, however, since he is the captain (and boss) he is ultimately responsible for the actions of his professional employees. I doubt he could do anything to prevent the situation, but it is within his capability to attempt to explain the actions of his employee and also indicate if we can expect similar behavoir in the future.

The whole incident sounds a little over-blown, but I personally would like to hear their side of the story.

We will be seeing more of those destructive species and there is no reason to believe that in the very heavily dove locations within Palm Beach that the invasive exotic density can be reduced with a concerted effort on the part of divers.

Local and state governements dump litlerally tons of poisions (mostly herbicides) to control (not eliminate) undesirable aquatic vegetation in the freshwater canals that discharge to this area. If they are willing to dump that much toxins for control, allowing motivated divers to remove these fish has much less potential to damage the ecosystem. I guess my point is that, exotic organsims ARE A BIG DEAL!

It's SOP that divers on charters aren't supposed to kill anything, unless it's a lobster or spear trip. Neither the DM, Capt or Dive Op have anything to 'explain' to anyone. If you want to organize a Lion Fish Killing Expedition, you need to organize that in advance - with approval from the Dive Op.

With global warming, ocean acidification and fertilizer runoff, the reefs will be dead in 10 to 20 years anyway, all of them. Enjoy them while you can!

 

[RickI]

I saw my first one in Bimini 2 years ago, was shocked when I saw it. I was unaware of the invasion but they guy I was with knew about it and took it. They've been in the Bahamas longer than that. I've revisited a few spots in the Western Bahamas and have seen more individuals than in the previous year. I heard a presentation recently in which it was claimed a commercial aquarium bred and raised lionfish over a period of time in the Bahamas. Water in the tanks was continuously flushed into the ocean, perhaps taking milt and eggs with it at times. It sounds more feasible than the survivors of a 15 ft. storm surge that bashed out a window and freed six lionfish from a home aquarium on Key Biscayne in Hurricane Andrew, populated the invasion as suggested as one source by public agencies. I've heard lionfish have been seen from Long Island, NY to Florida, out to Bermuda and down past Turks and Caicos. They've been fairly common off the east coast of the USA but strangely absent in SE Florida, apparently until now, great. I read where one individual was even found on Little Cayman and others in Honduras over 20 years ago. Where did they come from? Take your pick, but they're here multiplying like crazy and in all likelihood doing some serious, perhaps permanent damage. I understand they occur out to 250 ft. of water, also I've heard they've been seen as fry in sargassum mats nearshore. If they spend part of their life cycle in pelagic areas under grass mats that might help to explain the substantial expansion of populations even into northern waters via the Gulfstream. I'm not fond of spearfishing from depletions grouper and snapper more than obvious on SE Florida reefs even 38 years ago. Particularly larger individuals were thinned out even then and before. I am thinking about carrying a pole gun just for these guys though. Our reefs have been trashed by so much abuse for so long, now this? Blow them away, hopefully regular depletions in shallow water may impact populations over all even deeper placed individuals. By accounts the Bahamas have been taken over by them. Good luck.

They had a lionfish contest in Bimini recently. It built awareness, not sure how much effective depletion was accomplished but it was a start. More at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=7985 http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=4402

 

[RickI]

I was just talking to a guy who was at the Bimini competition. He said he nailed a couple of lionfish and left them for some gray reef sharks moving through the area. Usually, it is a forgone conclusion anything thats been shot and left in the water will get hit by the sharks. In this case, the sharks ignored the lionfish, not good. Have heard they've been found in the guts of some grouper.

 

[mikerault]

As the climate changes the reefs will move, not die off. If that was the case (they would all die) then there would be no reefs now as this process has happened naturally literally since reefs began hundreds of thousands of years ago. The Volvostok cores prove this. Nature is more resiliant than any of us give it credit for. Now Miami, New York, New Orleans and Charleston they are in trouble, but while the reefs may decline in one spot they will flourish in another where they can't now. Hmm...dive New York, see the new tropical reefs....

 

[300bar]

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[rcpalmer1]

It's SOP that divers on charters aren't supposed to kill anything, unless it's a lobster or spear trip. Neither the DM, Capt or Dive Op have anything to 'explain' to anyone. If you want to organize a Lion Fish Killing Expedition, you need to organize that in advance - with approval from the Dive Op.

That would be great except we were not on their boat. They don't get to make the rule of what people on other boats do. It just so happened that the owner-capt of the boat we were on wanted to dive this day. He had a relief captain running his boat on this trip. He was one of the divers that was trying to kill the lion fish. So what you are quoting as SOP was not the SOP for this trip.

I have well over 1000 dives including tec dives. I have never been as scared that someone was going to get hurt on a dive as I was on this dive. I still feel that the other boats Dive Master was out of line. This was not just simple hand signal to stop. It was a very heated confrontation.

 

[Orlando Eric]

That would be great except we were not on their boat. They don't get to make the rule of what people on other boats do. .....

And here in lies the lynch pin to the case at hand. If it is not illegal, it is none of your beeswax and MYOB.

Interesting that this confrontation was so serious and it was a female confronting a male. Obviously this is not a female who has any idea what happens in violent encounters and the risk involved.

 

[Salmonboy97]

Lionfish must go by any means available.

I think some "out of state" posters dont realize that the problem is just getting started here, so there is hope to curtail its growth.

While the two were "fighting" couldnt another diver have finished off the dirty deed? How many guys can this female DM take on at one time.........underwater!