Winning lionfish battle #2

[Brules]

So now we've come back to convincing the Japanese that eating lionfish is good for virility, and promotes penis growth!

Best. Idea. Ever.

Promote them as the Cozumel ones give the best results.

 

[dohdoh]

It's worth pointing out that you can feed the lionfish to anemones too. And i think feeding them probably doesn't change their behavior as much as grouper or other fish. It's kind of fun watching them eat too... kind of like a scene out of a horror film.

I went out 6 times last week and we found a lionfish within the first 5 minutes of every dive.

 

[stcroix]

I like the "weeding" analogy one poster used here.
Suppression IS working here in certain areas here the USVI.
What's in question is whether the suppression can be sustained for the long-haul.
And now a DM friend tells me that they have found groups of LF in 'caves' at 200+ feet here while tech diving. So much for the LF = Shallowfish theory.

As for the "observed feeding habits" of eels on LF... I've never seen an eel go after one, but I have seen them swallow one that's been offered. (Come to think of it, I've not seen an eel hunt anything while a diver was around).

But...this does not mean that AT NIGHT when the divers aren't present, that the eels aren't out there trying to eat them. More study needs to be done.

 

[Marek K]

I Still maintain that teaching HUMANS to eat Lionfish is the solution. If you want to make something extinct, get humans involved lol.

We just got back from a week on Grand Cayman. Something seems to be working there.

When we were there last year, we saw at least a few -- and often more -- lionfish on just about every dive.

This year, it wasn't until the third day that we saw even one. There were two on that dive, and maybe three more on another dive during the week. On most dives, nary a sign of a lionfish on dives down to 100'.

We asked Ari, the owner of Cobalt Coast Resort, what was up. He said that the Caymanian government has been allowing licensed killing of lionfish for food since last year. He added that a lot of the lionfishing is being done by Filipino guest workers on the island, who I suppose are used to hunting (and eating) lionfish back home.

We didn't see lionfish on any of the "normal" restaurant menus yet, but some places are apparently starting to offer them.

 

[Darol]

I'm curious, now I'm hearing tourists are allowed to hunt lionfish?
Is this the case? I'm speaking of inside the marine park.:shocked2:

 

[Marek K]

I'm curious, now I'm hearing tourists are allowed to hunt lionfish?
Is this the case? I'm speaking of inside the marine park.:shocked2:

Was that in reference to my post about Grand Cayman?

Almost all the dives we took were along Seven Mile Beach, therefore in the Marine Park. (The wind made the seas a bit rough along the North Wall most of the week.)

It didn't sound as if "tourists" were being allowed to take lionfish there. This sounded like controlled permits for certain people (to include resident foreign workers) to take lionfish. I read in another place the lionfishing was allowed every couple months, or twice a month or something.

Doesn't sound like a lot of lionfishing; but whatever's happening, there's a very noticeable improvement over the course of a year.

 

[Darol]

No Sir, in reference to Cozumel.