Declining dive quality?

[cicopo]

Well I only saw 1 Lion myself on my recent trip but did see a few dead ones on spears operated by Steve, Al or Howard. Now that I've edited my photos I can say I seem to have seen all the usual characters with the possible exception being large Groupers . I did see a HUGE school of Jacks that far exceeded anything before. They were too far away to get a decent shot but it was a very large gathering.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskSxMGMj

 

[deepsea21]

Deepsea21, Cozumel heeded the warnings from other areas already being overrun with lionfish. From the first one sighted in January 2009, we were taking them out of the water. The marine park even ran volunteer hunting trips for awhile there. Eight years later, there's even more pressure on them from dive staff, recreational hunters, and commercial hunters.
Even outside the park, plenty of areas stay pretty Fished Out. We just keep exploring and finding them wherever we can!

I'm not one to take pleasure in shooting or killing anything but when it comes to these things... KEEP UP THE KILLING!

 

[Pelagicsal]

I'm not one to take pleasure in shooting or killing anything but when it comes to these things... KEEP UP THE KILLING!

I dived with a lot of hunters over the years, but I never had any real interest in hunting, myself, until the lionfish came along. They eat my friends; they must die.

 

[Wookie]

"Just not in the marine park"!!! ??? Where is this crazy marine park that is still not allowing hunters to kill these friggin' things within its bounds?

Ummm. Every marine sanctuary in the United States? Tortugas ecological reserve North, and South, and Western Sambo, and any of the Sanctuary Preservation Areas, and Flower Garden Banks, all require a special permit and training (that isn't offered) to hunt lionfish.

 

[deepsea21]

Ummm. Every marine sanctuary in the United States? Tortugas ecological reserve North, and South, and Western Sambo, and any of the Sanctuary Preservation Areas, and Flower Garden Banks, all require a special permit and training (that isn't offered) to hunt lionfish.

Figures... Just another example of excessive U.S. regulation and stupidity dictated by a bunch of idiots in DC who have absolutely no clue what is going on outside their bubble and haven't been anywhere. Maybe when all the reef fish are gone, the marine parks are devoid of anything worth seeing and the land based economies that support the dive community are empty these DC idiots can find new careers demolishing the wasteland of businesses, buildings and infrastructure that catered to and depended on us to stay, dive and spend $ in these tiny local economies. Sickening.

 

[mstevens]

Figures... Just another example of excessive U.S. regulation and stupidity dictated by a bunch of idiots in DC who have absolutely no clue what is going on outside their bubble and haven't been anywhere. Maybe when all the reef fish are gone, the marine parks are devoid of anything worth seeing and the land based economies that support the dive community are empty these DC idiots can find new careers demolishing the wasteland of businesses, buildings and infrastructure that catered to and depended on us to stay, dive and spend $ in these tiny local economies. Sickening.

I disagree. Hundreds of people per day trying to spear lionfish above delicate reefs can lead to a LOT of reef damage very quickly.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I disagree. Hundreds of people per day trying to spear lionfish above delicate reefs can lead to a LOT of reef damage very quickly.

I'm quite certain that zero spearing and free-for-all are not the only two possible options.

 

[ggunn]

I'm quite certain that zero spearing and free-for-all are not the only two possible options.

Cozumel's handling of it is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I'm not a reef expert, nor a lionfish expert, but we do go to Cozumel at least twice a year and just returned from Roatan with a group of people that have been diving for decades and have dove all over the world. I trust their opinions. Their views coincided with mine that the Roatan reef was healthier but the amount of aquatic life was limited.

The reefs in Roatan seemed more vibrant with lots of different varieties of coral, and more varieties that I would consider fragile. Lion fish were everywhere and once the dive masters evaluated your ability to dive, when you found a lionfish, they would give you a spear to take it. Then they would take over and handle them for you. It was addictive and definately one of my favorite dives ever even when I missed the Moby Dick of lionfish....next time! We harvested at least a dozen on that dive, and the extra divemaster would usually take several on every dive. We saw lionfish literally on every dive, most of them larger than anything I have seen in Cozumel.

Visability was not as good, almost no currents whatsoever, and the number and variety of fish was no where near what you see in Cozumel. The turtles were much smaller than what we see in Coz. The belief was that the lionfish had decimated the juvenile fish population, and over fishing the reef had done the rest. There are active efforts to control fishing on the reefs, but it is not widely respected.

Keep in mind, this is based on one 14 dive trip to Honduras so we may not have hit the right sites.

Safe travels,
Jay

 

[northernone]

Another experience report.

Out of the few hundred mature lion fish (or the same lion fish a few hundred times?) I've sighted this winter the vast majority (90% roughly of a rough headcount) were in the 200-300ft range.

Compared to a dozen or so other Caribbean dive locations I've been to in the last few years Cozumel appears to be best handling the invasive species.

Sadly I can't handle a spear and camera rig simultaneously so I haven't contributed. I applaud the hunters.

Regards,
Cameron