Hey there! I was in a meeting with Ricardo last month and he specifically told me that neither the Lion Tamer, nor any other form of spear inside the Marine Park is permitted. If things have changed we were not informed. He was very receptive and quite informed about the fact that The ELF Tool and introduction program is in place at St Kitts’ University of Veterinary Medicine, Bonaire's Marine Park, Curacao’s Marine Park and Anguilla’s Marine Park. The idea is for the Coz’s Marine Park to allow only ELF tools which they will own and distribute to authorized DMs and Instructors only. It is not positive for our reefs to have every DM, instructor or visitor to be diving with homemade spears or just any tool they can purchase. We will need restraint and vigilance from us operators to not permit our employees or our guests to be out hunting as if it were open season at the marine park. The way to get authorized by the marine park will be to take a version of the PADI Lionfish hunter ELF Tool cert tailored made for Coz which will be offered by the Marine Park to volunteers and willing Dive Shops. The tools will be owned by the Marine Park so you will not need to purchase it. Of course we are supporting any shop or entity that wants to donate ELF tools to the Coz Marine Park. For example Sand Dollar Sports has purchased 20 ELFs at over $2000Dlls and donated them to the Marine Park already. The Marine Park has yet to hand them out because the initial course has yet to be programmed. Senor Frogs also graciously offered to host the event where they will be asking for a donation on the 18th of $50 pesos to go to the Cozumel Marine Park so they can purchase more ELFs so they can distribute them.
I also completely disagree with the fact that you say that the buddy diver checking depth and air has nothing to do with how effective the tool is. It has everything to do with how effective the tool is. Just killing Lionfish is not the goal. We need to do this with the least amount of collateral damage possible. From educating our guests, to informing of our hunting, to hunting in safe and correct manner and finally reporting as the Marine Park suggests. We need to educate our guests as to why this is going on and not just kill fish without a proper explanation. We need to make sure our guests who are visiting us have a chance to not be participants if they choose not to be. Respecting everyone’s views is something we need to do especially if we are talking about killing fish. Believe it or not there is a movement to deal with the Lion fish that believes you should leave nature alone and stop meddling. So although I do not support that view I cannot have a paying guest who is well informed of the lionfish problem and has a issue with my DMs or instructors hunting Lionfish be surprised by the fact that we come out of the water with our catch.
Also, there are many homemade tools that many DMs and Instructors are using. We need to put a stop to this. These homemade tools vary from size, accuracy and safety. Many of these homemade tools are a work in progress so as the DMs or Instructors go through the process of learning to shoot their tool and perfecting its’ aim the damage done to the coral is profound. Every new tool that staff bring to the boats is the same learning curve.
We would be limiting this “learn as you go” practice by offering the best tool in the market and by offering this tool with an instruction program to be presented in a controlled atmosphere where the designated hunters take a dive or two to practice in an area that causes no collateral damage to the reef. The Marine Park course will also give the DMs and Instructors knowledge as to how to remove the lion fish in a safe way from the spear and what not to do with the carcass. There are so many DMs feeding these dead lion fish to either groupers, anemones, spotted eels and trigger fish. That is not a recommended practice it interferes with the food chain and we took years eliminating the feed the fish dive programs and now many dive shops are reintroducing feeding through the lion fish hunt. I know there are great hunters out there so let’s get them onboard and have them all working with the same information.
Are we really too good to ask our staff to be informed properly and to have the proper education as to what may happen if they shoot a reef and why it isn’t an issue if they don’t have a clear shot to wait for the next time because these fish are extremely territorial? Are we too superior to make sure our DMs and Instructors take the proper precautions when hunting so they do not put themselves in danger to try to get that lionfish that got away?
The fact of the matter is we are hunting today as cowboys in the Wild West. We should aspire to be more professional than that and improve the image of hunting so guests who dive Cozumel leave with the knowledge and the assurance that we are doing the most we can as a destination to combat these invaders.
I also completely disagree with the fact that you say that the buddy diver checking depth and air has nothing to do with how effective the tool is. It has everything to do with how effective the tool is. Just killing Lionfish is not the goal. We need to do this with the least amount of collateral damage possible. From educating our guests, to informing of our hunting, to hunting in safe and correct manner and finally reporting as the Marine Park suggests. We need to educate our guests as to why this is going on and not just kill fish without a proper explanation. We need to make sure our guests who are visiting us have a chance to not be participants if they choose not to be. Respecting everyone’s views is something we need to do especially if we are talking about killing fish. Believe it or not there is a movement to deal with the Lion fish that believes you should leave nature alone and stop meddling. So although I do not support that view I cannot have a paying guest who is well informed of the lionfish problem and has a issue with my DMs or instructors hunting Lionfish be surprised by the fact that we come out of the water with our catch.
Also, there are many homemade tools that many DMs and Instructors are using. We need to put a stop to this. These homemade tools vary from size, accuracy and safety. Many of these homemade tools are a work in progress so as the DMs or Instructors go through the process of learning to shoot their tool and perfecting its’ aim the damage done to the coral is profound. Every new tool that staff bring to the boats is the same learning curve.
We would be limiting this “learn as you go” practice by offering the best tool in the market and by offering this tool with an instruction program to be presented in a controlled atmosphere where the designated hunters take a dive or two to practice in an area that causes no collateral damage to the reef. The Marine Park course will also give the DMs and Instructors knowledge as to how to remove the lion fish in a safe way from the spear and what not to do with the carcass. There are so many DMs feeding these dead lion fish to either groupers, anemones, spotted eels and trigger fish. That is not a recommended practice it interferes with the food chain and we took years eliminating the feed the fish dive programs and now many dive shops are reintroducing feeding through the lion fish hunt. I know there are great hunters out there so let’s get them onboard and have them all working with the same information.
Are we really too good to ask our staff to be informed properly and to have the proper education as to what may happen if they shoot a reef and why it isn’t an issue if they don’t have a clear shot to wait for the next time because these fish are extremely territorial? Are we too superior to make sure our DMs and Instructors take the proper precautions when hunting so they do not put themselves in danger to try to get that lionfish that got away?
The fact of the matter is we are hunting today as cowboys in the Wild West. We should aspire to be more professional than that and improve the image of hunting so guests who dive Cozumel leave with the knowledge and the assurance that we are doing the most we can as a destination to combat these invaders.
