Lion Fish, an increasingly serious threat

[diverchic]

It's been four years since I've been to Belize. In 2007, I saw no Lion Fish. Now, I saw several on each dive. It's so distressing to see that these beautiful fish are becoming a threat to the health of the reefs in the Caribbean. A friend told me he recently viewed pics from a friend who recently visited Bonair. There were Lion fish in every photo. It's really frightening. They have no natural preditors in the Caribbean since they are native to the Pacific. In Belize, the govt initially offered $50 per Lion fish caught. The govt quickly ran out of money. Now they're trying to encourage spear fishers to cath them to eat. They are poisonous, unless like blowfish, are prepared properly. Something needs to be done to protect these pristine waters!:depressed:

 

[Divingdogdr]

I agree with you in that the invasion of lionfish is a very sad thing because they may cause the complete disaapearance of many species we enjoy right now but realistically I don't think anything can be done. The few lionfish that are killed by divers are but a drop in the bucket compared to the number of lionfish out there. The places that divers go are just a tiny amount of the area that lionfish are in. Eventually they will develop natural predators and a balance will be reached. The best thing we can do now maybe to spear them and feed them to groupers to speed up the predation of lionfish. To do anything more drastic may only serve to make things worse than they already are.

 

[annieols]

the are not poisonous, they are venomous and there is a HUGE HUGE difference, they are nothing like blowfish in respect to eating- if you remove the spines (18 of them on back, anal and pelvic fins) then the meat poses absolutely noooo problem, actually its quite tastey- mild, white and firm!

but yes quite a problem

 

[JFS]

The lionfish are getting out of control in all areas in the Caribbean. Cozumel is rampant with them. They are quite tasty and are easy to spear. They are not poisonous to eat. The only thing one has to be careful with is the venomous spines. I just cut the spines off in the water with a pair of medical scissors and then its no problem handling them. They are a very tender meat and great as ceviche! Not a lot of bones to worry about either. They multiply like rabbits so it will be tough to get rid of them.

 

[Canadense]

Lots of challenges on the reef in Belize concerning Lionfish; epecially where you dive. A lot of times the dive site would be 30 min to an hour out, so it's not dove a lot, hence plate sized lionfish. Plus some dive centres don't want to be involved in the eradication of this invasive species. Keep sounding the alarm!

 

[Thiad]

I was amazed at how many we saw while diving around Ambergris Caye. Beautiful and at first, exciting until you realize the damage they cause.

 

[diverchic]

Thanks for clearing that up. You're right, there is a big difference between the two!

 

[deeper thoughts]

The last 5-6 dives here in the Keys I have not seen any. That being said others are seeing them here

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Splash Dive Center from Placencia went out Saturday specifically to kill lionfish. We killed about 70. We plan to make one trip a month as part of our community service work. We do not kill them when on trips with customers.

 

[Hank49]

A guy in Puerto Rico posted on Spearboard that some lionfish shot there are testing positive for ciguatera.