Lionfish Awareness and Elimination

[beanojones]

If you feel that eating lionfish will solve the problem then that is fine. But I just think you really do not need to do anything to the reef ecosystem other than to leave it alone and conserve the environment. In some studies the lionfish eat up to 80% of the fish on the coral reef and that may sound bad but it still leaves 20% to reproduce. It only takes a few fertile adults to repopulate themselves because fish produce so many offspring. But this is where evolution comes in and those fish that were able to avoid the lionfish will pass on their traits to the next generation and the young will be able to avoid the lionfish as well. The lionfish provides strong selection pressure but this is quickly overcome by the fecundity of the fish. Also, if lionfish become numerous then groupers and snappers will start to hunt them as food and those groupers and snappers that are better able to catch and eat lionfish will pass on their traits to their young and their young will also have those traits. I think that there will be a small window where the native are overwhelmed by the lionfish but they will quickly adapt through natural selection.

If only evolution worked this way it would be nice, and we would never have any animals go extinct because they would all adapt in a single generation, as if driven by an unseen hand. Nor would ecosystems ever undergo permanent change, because there would be the same unseen hand fixing things.

But animals do go extinct and ecosystems do suffer permanent damage from invasive species. Anyone who lives on an island knows this.

Because sometimes the selection is not of individuals but of entire species and ecosystems, and in no case does a single generation result in enough random mutation to allow adaptive behavior.

 

[billt4sf]

If only evolution worked this way it would be nice, and we would never have any animals go extinct because they would all adapt in a single generation, as if driven by an unseen hand. Nor would ecosystems ever undergo permanent change, because there would be the same unseen hand fixing things.

But animals do go extinct and ecosystems do suffer permanent damage from invasive species. Anyone who lives on an island knows this.

Because sometimes the selection is not of individuals but of entire species and ecosystems, and in no case does a single generation result in enough random mutation to allow adaptive behavior.

We're screwed. Beautiful Bonaire could go the way of the dinosaurs! Humans must intervene, but humans have their own necessarily selfish needs and habits. Change is hard. The best motivator is money. If someone can find a way for the people of Bonaire to be able to make money by getting rid of lionfish, it might be possible.

- Bill

 

[Doc]

We're screwed. Beautiful Bonaire could go the way of the dinosaurs! Humans must intervene, but humans have their own necessarily selfish needs and habits. Change is hard. The best motivator is money. If someone can find a way for the people of Bonaire to be able to make money by getting rid of lionfish, it might be possible.

(a two year old thread, but what the hell?)

Bonaire? Have people lock them in their cars when they go shore diving. That ought to handle it.

 

[b-dog]

On one hand the lionfish should not be in the Caribbean and it will alter the ecosystem. On the other hand itt is pretty amazing that the lionfish is doing so well. Human activity has killed off most of the corals and over fished most of the groupers and snappers, dumped sewage and pollution into the ocean, had a BP oil spill, acidifying the ocean, and causing global warming. We are able to kill off the native animal life without even trying yet we have to have lionfish derbies to reduce the numberof lionfish. Lionfish are one tough fish.

 

[iluvtheocean]

We're screwed. Beautiful Bonaire could go the way of the dinosaurs! Humans must intervene, but humans have their own necessarily selfish needs and habits. Change is hard. The best motivator is money. If someone can find a way for the people of Bonaire to be able to make money by getting rid of lionfish, it might be possible.

- Bill

make money off lionfish? It's an delicious edible fish -- put in on the restaurant menus

 

[Steve Egner]

Spearing Lionfish is fun. They are delicious. Any questions?

 

[triplecove]

Does the Padi course teach you how to filet them? and do we broil, bake or saute?

 

[chillyinCanada]

No, yes, yes, yes

 

[Mike]

make money off lionfish? It's an delicious edible fish -- put in on the restaurant menus

That can only be an effective solution if lion fish happen to school, or they only lived in depths of 130 feet or less. Unfortunately, they don't and picking them off one at a time in depths accessible to free diving and scuba diving doesn't effect the 99.99% of the other parts of the ocean they are living and reproducing in that are out of reach.

There is an lionfish factory at deep depth that runs day and night unmolested, that reproduces more lionfish that endlessly replaces the ones humans can harvest at shallow depth.

 

[The Chairman]

Some great news: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...ves-license-requirement-lionfish-harvest.html