View Full Version : lionfish
Guess if there off AL there off LA too!
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/lionfish_predatory_species_sig.html
subdude
09-18-10, 09:43 PM
I personally saw one a few days after they opened up federal waters, he was 4-6 inches long and on natural bottom.
subdude
Members, If you see a lion fish, please report it to the FWC. These fish could really cause trouble for our native fish.
The ones I have seen are not very mobile. It appears they could be speared or killed with a long handled knife, or a kill spike or knife attached to the end of our spear guns, similar to a bayonet. Maybe we should try killing the ones we see. Killing a female with eggs could potentially keep thousands out of the water. It might not have any effect in the long run, but in might slow down the invasion a little bit. I put my hand on one I didn't see on a wreck in South Florida in 1990. I felt the spines through my glove when I grabbed the wreck to hold on against the current. Knowing what I know now I would have killed it.
subdude
09-20-10, 11:42 AM
After I saw that one I surfaggogled the interweb about them. I will kill the next one I see. And you are right Spear, I think I will just use the butt of my spear gun, they don't seem very mobile or skittish.
subdude
These lionfish could be trouble folks~
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/pensacola-33178-beach-florida.html
I have been around hundreds, if not thousands of lionfish in the Pacific...they are docile and slow moving and should be fairly easy to "euthanize" (haha)...don't know if the poison on their 'mane' would transfer to the butt of a speargun used to club one.... personally, when I reload my gun underwater I place the butt in my hip joint...one little slip and it would be 'somewhere else' ...
For those of you that missed the Social last night, you missed one of the BEST programs we've ever had. I knew it was bad that lion fish had been captured on a reef in Pensacola by Robert Turpin and Keith Mille from the FWC but a week before I heard about their sighting, one of our members told me he spotted one off the Coast of Okaloosa County. That's why I contacted Bill and ask him to come educate us. Below are a few of the things I learned last night. Sit down, it's scary!
Did you know that lionfish reach sexual maturity at 1 year and they can reproduce every 4 days?
A single breeding female can release up to 2 million eggs per year!
They are known to consume 56 species of fish and invertebrates and their prey can exceed half their body length!
Each fish can consume 2 lbs. of prey per acre, per day.
Their voracious appetite can reduce other prey species levels (Grouper, Snapper, A/J’s etc…) by 90%!
The scary thing is… we know they are already here!!! ECRA will be spearheading a campaign to educate the divers in the area and to enlist their help to attempt to eradicate this dangerous species from our waters.
The good news is: Bill says they're really good to eat! You must be very careful though because they have poison in their fins that will sting the heck out of you. Anyway, I will post Bills PP presentation as soon as I have time to shrink the slides so our forum will accept them.
Stay tuned!
Maybe the Destin Charter Boat folks need to hire some scuba divers to go hunt for lionfish?
Attached is the Power Point slide show about the Lionfish.
Please review the slides so you will understand the seriousness of the lionfish to the survivability of our area's fishery.
If you see a lionfish, please contact me immediately.
If you kill or take one from our waters, please let me know. I will be arranging a POC for specimen retrival because the FWC wants to do DNA testing to try to determine where they are coming from.
This threat could be more hazardous than the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to our fishery. We all need to keep vigilant in this to save our fishery.
P.S. Be very careful handling them because they have poison in their fins that will sting you. The meat is good to eat and supposedly tastes like hogfish. Killing the lionfish is encouraged but if you see one that you don't kill, please let me know where it was spotted so someone else can try to kill or capture it.
My point is that the FWC and it's powerpoint presentation is nice but how about some financial incentive to go after the lionfish? Example in states where coyotes have been a problem they've offered a "bounty" on them.
Also if the State (FWC) and Charter fishman see this as a problem why don't the set up a "fund" to pay a bounty on the lionfish. The state and the charterfisherman, (if you believe the FWC powerpoint presentation) will be losing a lot of cash because to the lionfish reducing the numbers in the fishery so they should do something proactive about it...........ie, hire divers to go after the lionfish, and or put a bounty on them.
But no, the charterfishman will just cry to the state when they can't fill the cattle boats with customers because the lionfish have killed off all the fish and they aren't catching anything.
That's my point!
jonesrw
10-18-10, 03:08 PM
I think a bounty is a GREAT idea. I just can't understand why they don't do that with every exotic species. Boas, asian carp, etc. Any time an animal has had a price on it's head, you can kiss it good bye.
A bounty system would only cost a tiny fraction of what we'll spend on studies, programs, etc. Not to mention giving a few unemployed folks a way to make a few bucks!
subdude
10-18-10, 06:34 PM
I think a bounty is a GREAT idea. I just can't understand why they don't do that with every exotic species. Boas, asian carp, etc. Any time an animal has had a price on it's head, you can kiss it good bye.
A bounty system would only cost a tiny fraction of what we'll spend on studies, programs, etc. Not to mention giving a few unemployed folks a way to make a few bucks!
Therein lies the problem, $$ to studies and programs or $$ to John Q Public. The politicos have to perpetuate their self licking ice cream cones.
subdude
I think the bounty idea is a good one too but the bounty would have to be less than the price of a lionfish at the fish store or all it would do would increase demand for lionfish in our local pet stores.
What if ECRA took the lead in this and offered a bounty? I would support that if we could come up with a good plan for being part of the solution to this problem.
Subdude, I thought you would like this site. It has recipes for lionfish. :)
http://www.lionfishhunter.com/Lionfish%20Recipes.html
subdude
10-24-10, 12:40 PM
Subdude, I thought you would like this site. It has recipes for lionfish. :)
http://www.lionfishhunter.com/Lionfish%20Recipes.html
Thanks Candy but I will stick with our indigenous fare. But I will kill the next one of those lil sunny beaches next time I see one.
Hopefully a good cold winter will kill them off. I have heard that the warm Gulf Stream running up the east coast keeps them getting killed off up there. Could be BS too.
subdude
United States Websites
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science lionfish webpage
http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/education/lionfish/welcome.html
NOAA National Ocean Service lionfish educational website
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/stories/lionfish
USGS Non-indigenous Species Database lionfish factsheet
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=963
Reef Environmental Education Foundation lionfish program
http://www.reef.org/programs/exotic/lionfish
Florida Museum of Natural History
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html
Reefkeeping Online Magazine
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php
Caribbean-wide websites
Gulf & Caribbean Fisheries Institute - regional organization with annual meeting to share information; GCFINet mail list for real-time Caribbean-wide information exchange
http://www.gcfi.org
To: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners
Subject: Lionfish Invasion and Fishing License Requirement Special Rule Request
Last month, one of our members spotted a juvenile lionfish off the Coast of Okaloosa County. I knew this could mean big trouble for our fishery so I contacted Bill Horn in the Artificial Reef Department at the FWC and asked if he could come and talk to us about the lionfish.
Bill Horn has provided our group with several presentations and classes over the years and his extensive knowledge and presentation skills have always been highly respected and appreciated by our organization. His presentation on the Lionfish was, without a doubt, the most important presentation ever presented to our Members.
The threat the lionfish poses to our fishery is greater than I ever imagined and the urgency to address this problem on a local and State level is critical to keeping this species from decimating our native fish species.
We have a large group of divers that do not fish, they call themselves Scubaholics. Because they dive only to observe the marine habitat, they do not have fishing licenses. These are very active divers and could be very helpful in our efforts to eradicate the lionfish. They have shown an interest in helping us to destroy lionfish to help save our fishery but they are not comfortable doing so because, the way the laws are currently written, these divers would be breaking the law.
Because of the potential for devastating consequences if we do not enlist help from all divers to destroy the lionfish on sight, The Emerald Coast Reef Association is currently discussing creating a lionfish eradication education plan that we will want to pitch to dive shops. By enlisting the help of Divers all over the State in a year-round eradication effort, we may be able to save our fishery from unchecked predation.
We need your help to accomplish our combined goal of eliminating the lionfish from our coast. Please consider enacting a special rule to exempt the capture/kill of the non-native lionfish from the licensing requirement. Exempting licensing requirements for the lionfish will enable thousands of divers to participate in an effort to save our fishery without fear of legal problems.
Please consider this request and let me know your decision on this extremely important and time sensitive issue.
Thank You for your time to consider this request. I will look forward to your response.
Candy Hansard
Emerald Coast Reef Association
Reef Deployment Director
candy@ecreef.org
www.ecreef.org
Members, Jon Dodrill is the head of the Artificial Reef Department of the FWC. He gave me permission to share his notes with you. My next post will be his permission letter that also contains some VERY unsetteling information. Please contact me immediately if you see or kill/capture a lion fish in our waters!
Jon Dodrill- rough notes on Lionfish Meeting held October Friday 15, 2010, Berkley Bldg.
Present: Mark Robson, Jon Dodrill, Rich Abrams, Martha Bademan (FWC, DMFM); Ann Forschten (FWC Human Dimensions Coordinator, Office of Planning and Policy), Jenny Tinnel ( Habitat and Species Management,Invasive Species Section ph. 926-0128); John Hunt, FWRI (remote video from Marathon)
John Hunt was the most outspoken commenter who conveyed the greatest sense of urgency based on his field experiences and contact with the public in the Florida Keys. He said the Marathon Office was getting hammered by numerous call-ins of lionfish reports, requests for information on lionfish, expressions of concern about the invasion, etc. Erin McDevitt (HSC) in West Palm Beach as well as Melissa Recks (DMFM) had also been fielding increasing numbers of lionfish related calls.
John Hunt expressed his opinion that FWC was lagging behind in dealing with this lionfish infestation problem. He noted that FWC had 1) no clearly stated well publicized common vision on how to deal with this lionfish problem; 2) There was confusion as to who, if anyone within FWC had been clearly designated to take the lead on addressing the problem.
Jenny Tinnell said her boss, Scott Hardin wants HSC Invasive Species section to be the lead. There was some consensus at this meeting that Jenny Tinnell at her suggestion, would take the lead of pushing forward the lionfish issue within the Invasive Species section and the rest of the agency. She spoke of development of bioprofiles, conducting a risk analysis, deciding what needs to be done and what can agency afford to do.
John Hunt seemed impatient with all this. Too much time has already passed, he believed, while the agency had taken no action on this issue. Lionfish invasions on the Atlantic Coast, the Florida Keys and in the Caribbean had advanced past the risk analysis stage. He said you’ve got two years from the time the first lionfish are noted in a region until the population explodes as borne out by the colonization pattern in Bahamas, Caymens, Cuba, Florida Keys, etc. The first lionfish have now been noted in the last month or two off Northern Gulf off NW FL , Alabama and Louisiana . John Hunrt said in the keys they are finding 30 mm lionfish in Florida Bay. Lionfish have been observed around dock pilings, under marker buoys, in canals, among prop roots of mangroves. They co-locate with spiny lobsters on natural reef tracts and are showing up on artificial reefs and natural reefs in SE Florida. They colonize across a wide range of habitats and depths (apparently down to 1000 ft.). One lobster trap fishermen fishing the FL Keys deep reef tract was catching up to 30 lionfish a day in his lobster traps.
Hunt said he was gearing up to do lab studies to examine the interaction between lionfish and juvenile spiny lobster. Other lionfish research work ongoing relates to stable isotope use in gut content studies, parasite work, trying to get a better understanding of natural predation on lionfish (which at this point doesn’t appear to be much). Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans), the primary lionfish species, appears to be growing larger here than in their Indo-Pacific home range.
It was noted that the Agency has been aware of the lionfish issue for two years and the lionfish problem has been discussed in Human Dimensions meetings. The information product produced by Invasive Species section to date is a now dated very limited document telling people to leave lionfish alone due to their venomous nature. John Hunt noted FWC doesn’t even have website information on lionfish management.
From John Hunt’s point of view FWC should be conveying a very straight forward policy and soon:
“Go kill lionfish. Do it now; Do it hard. Be aware of the hazards but control lionfish quickly, strongly, effectively”. He said the effort had to be sustained over time. Complete eradication is no longer an option. Very intermittent (in time and space) weekend Lionfish rodeos and similar activities by themselves, while raising public awareness, are probably ineffective as a tool to sustainably control the population across a wide range of habitats and depth. Merely reporting lionfish and not removing or killing them, at least in later stages of infestation was just a feel good activity in John Hunt’s opinion.
Hunt went on to say “Our agency is being viewed as non-responsive and not in touch. We are far behind. We have the capacity to do more.”
Based on questionnaires sent out and returned after this past summer’s two day lobster season, 35% of lobster divers responding observed one or more lionfish. Off West Palm 50% of the respondents observed lionfish.
Hunt said there were probably 150,000 recreational divers in Florida- these are the people who are going to be able to play a role in controlling the population. Hook and line anglers will be insignificant because of the ambush nature of the fish-you’d have to drop a bait directly in front of them. However they could be an important ally in raising public awareness and need for action.
Hunt felt it was critical to start reaching out proactively to both fishing and diving stakeholders. Leverage new contacts, don’t duplicate efforts. In terms of helping getting the message out John Hunt suggested involving the CCA, FWRI at St. Pete, the Fishing Rights Alliance, etc. John Hunt said that FWC could develop an email message along with a brochure and send out electronically in mass to stakeholders.
Biggest focus should be immediate widespread outreach with a priority of encouraging harvest with an explanation of why we want to remove lionfish from the system. ; Acknowledge caution when handling lionfish but that should not be an impediment to the priority of removal for population control purposes.
Rich Abrams indicated that space could be cleared in the January Fishing Regulations to accommodate a lionfish article. Martha Bademan was identified as a person within DMFM who could be of some web assistance regarding this issue.
Rich Abrams expressed some concern that there is a segment of the public that might be offended by a “kill on sight” message. He felt the agency has to clearly and carefully justify such a management approach and be sensitive to the concerns of that population segment.
Reaching out to Regional public information personnel (Wendy Quigley, FWRI; Gabby Ferraro in SE FL, George Pino (LE in keys)was recommended.
Pull in Dept. Agriculture and Consumer Services Sea Food Marketing (lionfish reported to be an excellent food fish) ; also get some input from Florida Dept. of Health.
Ann Forstchen suggested that not all the “right people” were at this meeting, that Community Relations needed to get involved along FWRI at ST. Pete. Let Office of Executive Director know that Lionfish control needs to be a cross agency strategy with a uniform and clear message.
Expand consciousness about not re-releasing lionfish from aquaria (although at this point the damage has been done, and a handful of new releases would have no measureable impact on the existing infestation, at least in the Keys and Southeast FL coast.
Key Points: Work must begin on a lionfish outreach message distributional plan along with a FWC lionfish website that emphasizes population control- removing these fish explaining why such a management strategy is necessary. Get going on this as fast a possible. Send Division Directors and OED a heads up and move forward as quickly as possible. This is not a one shot deal. There needs to be a continuous long-term message of sustained control. Need to hit hard, fast, soon. Agency credibility is being affected.
From: Candy Hansard
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 11:41 PM
To: Dodrill, Jon
Subject: RE: Lionfish
Jon,
May I have permission to share your report? I really want people to understand how serious this problem is.
Candy
From: Dodrill, Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 1:33 PM
To: Candy Hansard
Cc: Horn, Bill; Mille, Keith
Subject: RE: Lionfish
Candy, You’re welcome to share the notes, but understand they are just my rough notes from a single initial internal small lionfish working group meeting which was not attended by all the major players who probably needed to be there (Community Relations, Legal, Division Director of Habitat and Species Conservation Management, etc).
As Bill Horn, emphasized in his talk, I think a key point to continue to emphasize is that the trend across the Caribbean and U.S. SE coast is that once multiple lionfish observations occur in a new area, you’ve got about two years before the population really takes off. Removal effort will probably have to be sustained over a long period to even keep the population in the future at some controllable level. It’s possible that a seasonally cooler northern Gulf Environment might keep populations lower, but since lionfish are on artificial and natural reefs off Jacksonville and on deeper reefs off NC, colder seasonal temperatures won’t be an absolute barrier to continued colonization.
I think Bill showed a slide from Bahamas where there were eight lionfish in the frame of a single photo! I don’t think they know yet what circumstances make lionfish more locally abundant (and grow to larger size)in SE FL and Caribbean habitat than in the Indo-Pacific. I recall seeing one lone lion fish at 80 ft. on a reef off island of Luzon, Philippines about 40 years ago, I saw none at any in any shallow water reefs in the area I visited. Regards, Jon
Members,
Below is a copy of an e-mail received from Jon Dodrill, FWC about the most recent lionfish derby in S. Florida. Subdude has already spotted a lion fish in our area so our clock is ticking to take care of this situation. I am going to have a confrence call with James Morris, NOAA, on Friday to discuss ways for our members to be proactive in eliminating this non-native species that is VERY dangerous to the sustainability of our fishery.
Please stay tuned for more information and if you spot a lionfish, please contact me a.s.a.p. with details and the location.
************************************************** ********************************
From: Dodrill, Jon
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 10:11 AM
To: Candy Hansard
Subject:
Hi Candy, here are the results of the most recent FL Keys lionfish tournament. Jon dodrill
Derbies help to eliminate invasive lionfish
Lionfish have no known predators except man
November 17, 2010
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KEY WEST, Florida Keys -- There are 659 less Indo-Pacific red lionfish occupying the waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The final in a series of three lionfish derbies was staged Saturday, Nov. 13, off the Lower Keys and divers captured 109 of the invasive species, adding to the totals of two previous contests staged in Key Largo in September and in Marathon in October.
During Saturday's derby, Melbourne, Fla., residents Rob Pillus, Jeremy Norcross and Mike Dugan caught 25 lionfish to capture the contest's top $1,000 prize.
Lionfish off the southeast U.S., Bahamas and in the Caribbean impact indigenous fish because they eat important juvenile reef species, such as grouper and snapper.
Lionfish have no known predators except man, said Lad Akins of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.
They have venomous spines but, when properly cleaned, yield a white meat that is considered a delicacy. Saturday night's derby banquet featured lionfish.
Organized efforts to control the lionfish population and educate divers on the benefits of killing lionfish are to continue Dec. 8 with another derby that coincides with celebration activities surrounding the 50th anniversary of the establishment of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. The park is America's first underwater preserve.
Online:
Pennekamp Lionfish Roundup: www.reef.org/lionfish/roundup/pennekamp
Key Largo Lodging: www.fla-keys.com/keylargo or 1-800-122-1088
Members,
The Lionfish that was spotted by Subdude this summer was the first to be seen off our shores. The time it takes for an explosion of this species after the first sighting is within the first 2 years according to the e-mail from Jon Dodrill in a previous post. The story below says it took only 14 months in the Florida Keys.
These fish could quickly desimate our recreationally important fishery.
Please Report any sitings of Lionfish to me immediately.
Today, I had a talk with James Morris from NOAA and he is going to send me a specemin sample kit so if you kill or capture one, please contact me immediately so that I can send the sample in for DNA testing to try and see where these fish are coming from. Be very careful if you handle these fish as they have poison in their fins that can sting the heck out of you.
Here's a story I thought you might find interesting.
Story link: http://www.keysnet.com/2010/06/23/231704_lionfish-numbers-exploding.html
A flood of lionfish sightings in Florida Keys waters has swamped the fish counters.
"It's gotten crazy. We're probably getting a dozen to 20 calls a day just from the Keys," said Alecia Adamson, field-operations coordinator for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, based in Key Largo.
In April, 14 months since the first lionfish was spotted in Keys waters in January 2009, REEF staff had logged 119 reports from divers seeing lionfish. Of those, 71 were captured.
By this week, the Keys count of sightings and captures of the invasive-exotic fish -- which can devastate reefs -- had escalated into the unknown.
"I can say we have between 100 and 120 lionfish in our freezer right now," Adamson said Monday. Experts suspected lionfish reports would skyrocket once divers returned to Keys waters in force after a chilly spring.
REEF still wants local lionfish reports but asks divers to submit them online at the "Programs" section of the www.reef.org Web site.
One fish collector removed 10 lionfish from an Upper Keys reef in one day. Pro divers from Horizon Divers in Key Largo are bringing in "four and five lionfish at a time" after catching them with a net, Adamson said.
"We've gotten lionfish from all over," said Horizon dive instructor Mike Ryan. "Molasses Reef, French Reef, the Spiegel Grove" shipwreck. Lionfish also have been seen at the Christ of the Abyss Statue and the Duane shipwreck reef off Key Largo, he said.
Horizon instructor Troy Wheatley reported seeing "15 to 20" lionfish on a recent reef dive, Ryan said.
"All the ones we've captured are juveniles, under 4 inches long," Ryan said. "That's bad because it means they're breeding."
Divers taking a class through REEF can receive a special permit from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to remove the unwanted lionfish from the Sanctuary Preservation Areas, where all fish harvests normally are banned.
"You don't need a permit to take lionfish from outside the SPAs," Adamson noted.
Ken Miller, a part-time Long Key resident from Colorado, reported seeing an adult 8-inch lionfish near Christmas Tree Cave at French Reef, about 25 feet deep, on a late-May dive.
"It was big and there was no doubt it was a lionfish," Miller said. "We went back several times to look at it, and it was still there."
"It was a fabulous creature to see, but it also was disappointing," Miller said. "This is the wrong ocean, and the lionfish are so invasive."
Although lionfish are festooned with a dozen feathery spines that each can deliver a jolt of potent venom, the main threat of the Pacific Ocean species is to native fish life on the Keys reef.
Lionfish have overwhelmed some Bahamas reefs. A 2008 report found that significantly fewer native fish were found on reefs were lionfish -- fast breeding and ready to eat just about anything -- have become established.
A "lionfish roundup" held in June 2009 off Abaco in the Bahamas bagged 1,408 lionfish, Adamson said.
During this year's event, held last weekend in Abaco, divers from 21 boats caught another 941. Adamson said the lower number was more likely due to dive conditions than any significant decrease in the lionfish population.
Capt Rick
12-12-10, 11:40 PM
Interesting video on how to spear, detoxify, and clean a Lionfish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBE7zWZDgk&feature=related
Good Diving,
Capt Rick
Capt Rick
12-18-10, 12:54 AM
Record your Lionfish kills with these decals for your scuba tank, boat, car, ect.
http://www.topshelfmarine.com/product_info.php?products_id=94
Good Lionfish Huntin' :D
Capt Rick
ocddeerhunter
12-25-10, 11:20 PM
How about I make T-shirts with pictures and the scary facts about them -design the whole thing as a "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE "or better yet "KILL ON SIGHT " that will help get the word out to everyone so we can start slowing down all tht breeding .I'll contact the dive shops asap and see if we can get troops for the ARMY OF EXTERMANTORS that we need to control their spead.I'll be going to myfwc to see what their are going to do about it .
Wow! Robert, your ideas are AWESOME!
ECRA does want to tackle this problem head-on and we will need help from the masses. It sounds like you are ready to be recruited.
After the holidays are over, we need to really get started on this.
Great to have you on board!
Anyone else want to join the war on the Lionfish?
If we keep them killed, as we see them, while it's still in the early stage of their invasion into our area, we may be spared the devistation to our native species.
I'm really hoping that this cold weather will help control them. We'll see.
jonesrw
12-30-10, 09:49 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101229/sc_nm/us_usa_florida_lionfish
Interesting article. It says they can be caught on rod/reel. Anyone know what kind of bait you would use to target them? How big do these things get?
I also found it interesting that there is no money available for a bounty??? We have Millions for stymulus money but none for the most cost effective way to get rid them, a bounty?!?
It also says that no special prep is required to eat them. Just avoid the spines when cleaning them, serve 'em up!
ocddeerhunter
12-30-10, 12:25 PM
there is a cool y-tube of them cleaning one with tin snips for the spines on the dorsal and he left the pectrol spines attached to the head then scaled it its listed at y-tube as lionfisn hunter
Capt Rick
01-02-11, 04:08 PM
I read an article recently that the small Lionfish we are starting to see off our Gulf Coast are most likely coming from the Florida Keys as Lionfish larva being carried by the current to us where they are being deposited on our reefs to mature.
Here's a new mini spearpole designed especially for Lionfish (be sure to watch the videos):
http://www.acuspear.com/reef-defender-lionfish-spear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSuNkd6-wEI&feature=related
Let's Stick Those Suckas !! :D
Capt Rick
Capt Rick
01-02-11, 04:42 PM
Here's some good info from a Lionfish thread on Spearboard.
There's also a good photo of a juvenile Lionfish taken off Panama City last October.
http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=114386
Let's Stick Those Suckas !!
Capt Rick
ocddeerhunter
01-02-11, 05:12 PM
I'm building a new stringer so if I see and spear lion fish I won't get "spined" while taking it back to the boat and to the bbQ .
Its a modification of my stringer that I gave away at the Christmas Party ,a bowfishing arrow that I put a loop of line through the hole in the arrow near the noch (the back of the arrow that would go on the bow string ) thats where I've been attaching a clip so that fish can't just swim off the back of the stringer when I'm not holding it .(If you use say 30lb test line it still leaves enough clearance room so that when I bring my Hawaiian sling handle I can shoot the arrow as a free shaft then after the first fish I put the clip on to retain the fish)
The NEW STRINGER will have the hawaiian sling handle on the arrow with the clip attached to the loop so the loinfish cannot slide all the way up the arrow and maybe spine my left hand the slinghandle will keep all fish on the arrow at least 6 inch from the back end and I can hold the handle to carry it .
To all of you who may not know what a hawaiian sling handle is, check out floridafreedivers.com. the handles are easy to make yourself too .and the bowfishing arrows are cheap if you have a shark take it away from you its not that big of a loss as when I used to use short polespears as stringers .this type of stringer saves alot of time when you shoot a fish with your speargun I just tilt the gun shaft up and tentstake the fish to the sand and then ram the arrowo or polespear through the eyes and tentstake the stringer to hold the fish while I replace the shaft in my gun and string it up and cock it .Also if you leave the fish tenstaked you can use it as a decoy to draw fish out from under a ledge while I lay on top waiting.try it out it works for me .
Below is a letter that I sent in response to the reply I received today to a letter I sent the FWC Commission in October. Read from the bottom up.
From: Candy Hansard [mailto:candy@valp.net]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 11:32 PM
To: Rich Abrams FWC; Louie Roberson FWC; Jon Dodrill; Horn, Bill FWC; Mille, Keith
Subject: Please give me an update.
Hi Rich,
Thanks for answering the letter that I sent to the Commission 10 weeks ago.
Looks like we’re going to have a lionfish explosion in the panhandle before anything gets done.
The Commission wants to “Research the request” to remove the licensing requirement? How has that gone, now that it’s 6 weeks since the commission meeting?
How many billions of lionfish eggs can be released by 1 mature fish in 6 weeks? How many will mature and breed while they “Research the request”?
If all it takes is a "statutory language change" to allow removal of lionfish without a fishing license, why hasn’t the FWC gotten that done? No politician is going to block this change, if they did, they would be held responsible for the damage to Florida's $7 billion dollar per year fishery by the voters! In this political climate, that would be career suicide.
Have Senator Don Gaetz & Senator Matt Gaetz been contacted about this issue? If so, what was their response to the request to change the language?
Has Gov. Scott been contacted? He said he wanted to review agency regulations that are harming our state. This should be a perfect one for him to launch his agenda.
I don’t think the Commissioners understand the seriousness of the threat. Our fishery is in BIG trouble!
Please sound the alarm!
Please save our fishery!
Candy Hansard
From: CitizensServices@MyFWC.com [mailto:CitizensServices@MyFWC.com]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 3:05 PM
To: candy@ecreef.org
Subject: Candy Hansard - Lionfish [Incident: 101101-000011]
Thank you for contacting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The response to your concerns appears below.
You may follow the link below to login and check the status of your account.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
Candy Hansard - Lionfish
Discussion Thread
Response (MF-RA) 01/14/2011 04:04 PM
Dear Ms. Hansard:
Thank you for your email to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Commissioners regarding license requirements for harvesting lionfish. We really value your input, and appreciate your concern for the protection of the state’s natural resources.
Lionfish are an invasive species in Florida and the FWC, along with other agencies and organizations, is working to remove these fish from Florida waters. Currently, a saltwater fishing license is required to dispatch, harvest or remove these species from state waters. At the recent FWC Commission meeting (December 1-2, 2010), the Commissioners heard public testimony to remove the license requirement to dispatch, harvest or remove lionfish from state waters. The Commissioners directed FWC staff to research this request. License and fee issues are under the purview of the Florida Legislature. Our review of the current statute indicates that a statutory language change might be required to allow removal of lionfish without a fishing license. We are continuing to explore whether this can be done and how best to accomplish the task.
In regard to licenses, Florida recreational saltwater license fees go directly into the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund and their use is specifically directed by statute. Funds are allocated to the FWC to be used as follows:
? Up to 7.5% may be used for administration of the licensing program and for information and education
? Not less than 30% is to be used for law enforcement
? Not less than 32.5% is to be used for marine research and management
? Not less than 30% is to be used for fishery enhancement, including fishery statistics, artificial reefs, and fish hatcheries
Additionally, for every license sold in Florida, the Sport Fish Restoration Program (administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) provides additional funds to Florida which is used for a variety of fisheries programs including: to conduct many important fishery management programs, including fish population monitoring and research, development of artificial reef habitat, and outreach and education programs for anglers.
As you can see, anyone who purchases a fishing license in Florida contributes in multiple ways to preserving the natural resources of the state and ensuring that these resources are available to everyone to use.
On behalf of the FWC Commissioners, thank you for you and your organization’s interest in helping control lionfish and helping to preserve our native saltwater fish and habitat in Florida.
Sincerely,
Richard Abrams
Environmental Administrator
Customer (Sabrina Menendez) 11/01/2010 08:45 AM
From: FWC Commissioners
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 8:28 AM
To: Menendez, Sabrina
Subject: FW: Urgent Request for Action
From: Candy Hansard [mailto:candy@valp.net]
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 3:08 PM
To: FWC Commissioners
Cc: nick.wiley@fwc.com; Robson, Mark; Roberson, Louie; Dodrill, Jon; Horn, Bill; Mille, Keith
Subject: Urgent Request for Action
[cid:image003.jpg@01CB7905.08BA1000]
P.O. Box 273 Niceville, FL 32588 www.ecreef.org<http://www.ecreef.org>
To: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners
Subject: Lionfish Invasion and Fishing License Requirement Special Rule Request
Last month, one of our members spotted a juvenile lionfish off the Coast of Okaloosa County. I knew this could mean big trouble for our fishery so I contacted Bill Horn in the Artificial Reef Department at the FWC and asked if he could come and talk to us about the lionfish.
Bill Horn has provided our group with several presentations and classes over the years and his extensive knowledge and presentation skills have always been highly respected and appreciated by our organization. His presentation on the Lionfish was, without a doubt, the most important presentation ever presented to our Members.
The threat the lionfish poses to our fishery is greater than I ever imagined and the urgency to address this problem on a local and State level is critical to keeping this species from decimating our native fish species.
We have a large group of divers that do not fish, they call themselves Scubaholics. Because they dive only to observe the marine habitat, they do not have fishing licenses. These are very active divers and could be very helpful in our efforts to eradicate the lionfish. They have shown an interest in helping us to destroy lionfish to help save our fishery but they are not comfortable doing so because, the way the laws are currently written, these divers would be breaking the law.
Because of the potential for devastating consequences if we do not enlist help from all divers to destroy the lionfish on sight, The Emerald Coast Reef Association is currently discussing creating a lionfish eradication education plan that we will want to pitch to dive shops. By enlisting the help of Divers all over the State in a year-round eradication effort, we may be able to save our fishery from unchecked predation.
We need your help to accomplish our combined goal of eliminating the lionfish from our coast. Please consider enacting a special rule to exempt the capture/kill of the non-native lionfish from the licensing requirement. Exempting licensing requirements for the lionfish will enable thousands of divers to participate in an effort to save our fishery without fear of legal problems.
Please consider this request and let me know your decision on this extremely important and time sensitive issue.
Thank You for your time to consider this request. I will look forward to your response.
Candy Hansard
Emerald Coast Reef Association
Reef Deployment Director
candy@ecreef.org<mailto:candy@ecreef.org>
www.ecreef.org<http://www.ecreef.org>
==================== image File Attachment ====================
image003.jpg, 11357 bytes, added to incident
Having divers go after lionfish is akin to having TSA take off your shoes before you get on an airplane. Everybody is happy because something is being done. When the water temp off shore gets below 55 degrees the lionfish will retreat to the deeper offshore waters in the gulf stream and when they are there it is too deep for divers so the whole time that the lionfish is in the gulf stream they are going to reproduce at staggering numbers.
If you want to get rid of the lionfish, lets ban fishing for a couple of years that way there will be a over supply of hungry grouper, snapper and triggerfish that will be so hungry they'll eat anything...........to include the lionfish...........but we all know that will never happen.....just like we will never profile for terrorists getting on our airplanes and we'll just be happy that grandma got groped before she got on the airplane.
Anyway if the "Scubaholics" want to help out great, have they pay their $7 for a license........jeez, it's only $7.
jonesrw
01-17-11, 05:30 PM
Actually, the $7 license is for people fishing from the shore only. A full up license is required when fishing from a boat. I don't know for sure but I would imagine that applies to spear fishers from a boat as well. That license is about $18 / year now. Still, not a huge amount of money for a whole year.
I don't think the Scubaholics should have to buy a fishing license to help save our fishery.
It is the FWC's job to protect the fishery and enlisting the help of every person that is willing to help should not come at any cost to the volunteers.
Given the seriousness of the threat from the Lionfish, I am shocked that the licensing rule wasn’t removed as soon as the first Lionfish was discovered in Florida’s waters!
Studies are fine and dandy but action gets the job done. I encourage everyone to kill lionfish on sight.
captfrankie
01-17-11, 11:45 PM
I have to agree, anyone that will "volunteer" to help save the fishery should be able to do it at no charge, diver or otherwise.
So ---- where do I sign up?
As soon as the Monica Lee is deployed, I would like to begin an educational campaign to save our fishery from an invasion of the Lionfish.
I'd like some volunteers to help with the campaign. Please reply here if you would like to be on the Lionfish committee.
ocddeerhunter
01-19-11, 08:07 AM
I'll help out .I've done a few google searchs on loinfish theres lots of info out there if you look .we can start a list of links for anyone wanting to learn more.
-----Original Message-----
From: Abrams, Rich [mailto:rich.abrams@MyFWC.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 12:39 PM
To: Candy Hansard
Cc: Roberson, Louie; Dodrill, Jon; Horn, Bill; Mille, Keith
Subject: RE: Please give me an update.
Candy,
The Commission has dedicated a group of staff involved in this issue to progress steadily and thoroughly forward with addressing the lionfish issue. This group has several items to consider (including the license requirements) in developing a strategic plan for FWC’s role in the control of the invasive lionfish. Marine fisheries staff (management and outreach), law enforcement, fisheries researchers, and invasive species staff are represented in the Lionfish Team and have been involved in the discussions to develop our agency plan. As in any issue, we are proceeding as rapidly as possible and considering all possible methods to address the problem. This process flourishes with stakeholder input and I appreciate both your conviction and feedback about the issue.
While we are all concerned, it does not appear that licensing requirements are holding groups back from actively targeting the species. There have been several lionfish round-ups, rodeos and tournaments across south Florida with all participants supporting the cause and purchasing a saltwater fishing license. Anglers and divers across the state are removing lionfish from Florida waters, and various groups are taking part in the initiative to help control the species. The licenses they purchased support a variety of marine fisheries programs, including research and artificial reefs as well as the licensing requirement providing protection of all fish species from unauthorized harvest.
While we know that there are groups that have obtained licenses in order to fish for this species, we are interested in knowing more. With your direct involvement in the diving community, do you know what groups do not have a license, but need it? Can they be covered on a charter license, for instance, a vessel that has a fishing license for all paying customers? Maybe they fulfill one of the exemptions that already exist for fishing licenses?
As we move forward with this issue in a timely manner, FWC will continue to make sound decisions that consider all aspects of an issue (for the short term and the long term) and take into account the feedback from stakeholders, such as you and your group. Between the FWC Artificial Reef staff (Jon, Bill and Keith) and I, we will keep you apprised of the progress with the Lionfish Team.
Rich
Richard Abrams
Environmental Administrator
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Division of Marine Fisheries Management
Outreach and Education Subsection
2590 Executive Center Circle, E. Suite 204
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone 850 488-6058
Fax 850 488-7152
________________________________
From: Candy Hansard [candy@valp.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 12:31 AM
To: Abrams, Rich; Roberson, Louie; Dodrill, Jon; Horn, Bill; Mille, Keith
Subject: Please give me an update.
Hi Rich,
Thanks for answering the letter that I sent to the Commission 10 weeks ago.
Looks like we’re going to have a lionfish explosion in the panhandle before anything gets done.
The Commission wants to “Research the request” to remove the licensing requirement? How has that gone, now that it’s 6 weeks since the commission meeting?
How many billions of lionfish eggs can be released by 1 mature fish in 6 weeks? How many will mature and breed while they “Research the request”?
If all it takes is a "statutory language change" to allow removal of lionfish without a fishing license, why hasn’t the FWC gotten that done? No politician is going to block this change, if they did, they would be held responsible for the damage to Florida's $7 billion dollar per year fishery by the voters! In this political climate, that would be career suicide.
Have Senator Don Gaetz & Senator Matt Gaetz been contacted about this issue? If so, what was their response to the request to change the language?
Has Gov. Scott been contacted? He said he wanted to review agency regulations that are harming our state. This should be a perfect one for him to launch his agenda.
I don’t think the Commissioners understand the seriousness of the threat. Our fishery is in BIG trouble!
Please sound the alarm!
Please save our fishery!
Candy Hansard
From: CitizensServices@MyFWC.com [mailto:CitizensServices@MyFWC.com]
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 3:05 PM
To: candy@ecreef.org
Subject: Candy Hansard - Lionfish [Incident: 101101-000011]
Thank you for contacting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The response to your concerns appears below.
You may follow the link below to login and check the status of your account.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject
Candy Hansard - Lionfish
Discussion Thread
Response (MF-RA)
01/14/2011 04:04 PM
Dear Ms. Hansard:
Thank you for your email to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Commissioners regarding license requirements for harvesting lionfish. We really value your input, and appreciate your concern for the protection of the state’s natural resources.
Lionfish are an invasive species in Florida and the FWC, along with other agencies and organizations, is working to remove these fish from Florida waters. Currently, a saltwater fishing license is required to dispatch, harvest or remove these species from state waters. At the recent FWC Commission meeting (December 1-2, 2010), the Commissioners heard public testimony to remove the license requirement to dispatch, harvest or remove lionfish from state waters. The Commissioners directed FWC staff to research this request. License and fee issues are under the purview of the Florida Legislature. Our review of the current statute indicates that a statutory language change might be required to allow removal of lionfish without a fishing license. We are continuing to explore whether this can be done and how best to accomplish the task.
In regard to licenses, Florida recreational saltwater license fees go directly into the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund and their use is specifically directed by statute. Funds are allocated to the FWC to be used as follows:
? Up to 7.5% may be used for administration of the licensing program and for information and education
? Not less than 30% is to be used for law enforcement
? Not less than 32.5% is to be used for marine research and management
? Not less than 30% is to be used for fishery enhancement, including fishery statistics, artificial reefs, and fish hatcheries
Additionally, for every license sold in Florida, the Sport Fish Restoration Program (administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) provides additional funds to Florida which is used for a variety of fisheries programs including: to conduct many important fishery management programs, including fish population monitoring and research, development of artificial reef habitat, and outreach and education programs for anglers.
As you can see, anyone who purchases a fishing license in Florida contributes in multiple ways to preserving the natural resources of the state and ensuring that these resources are available to everyone to use.
On behalf of the FWC Commissioners, thank you for you and your organization’s interest in helping control lionfish and helping to preserve our native saltwater fish and habitat in Florida.
Sincerely,
Richard Abrams
Environmental Administrator
Customer (Sabrina Menendez)
11/01/2010 08:45 AM
From: FWC Commissioners
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 8:28 AM
To: Menendez, Sabrina
Subject: FW: Urgent Request for Action
From: Candy Hansard [mailto:candy@valp.net<mailto:candy@valp.net>]
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 3:08 PM
To: FWC Commissioners
Cc: nick.wiley@fwc.com<mailto:nick.wiley@fwc.com>; Robson, Mark; Roberson, Louie; Dodrill, Jon; Horn, Bill; Mille, Keith
Subject: Urgent Request for Action
[cid:image003.jpg@01CB7905.08BA1000<mailto:image003.jpg@01CB7905.08BA1000>]
P.O. Box 273 Niceville, FL 32588 www.ecreef.org<http://www.ecreef.org>
To: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners
Subject: Lionfish Invasion and Fishing License Requirement Special Rule Request
Last month, one of our members spotted a juvenile lionfish off the Coast of Okaloosa County. I knew this could mean big trouble for our fishery so I contacted Bill Horn in the Artificial Reef Department at the FWC and asked if he could come and talk to us about the lionfish.
Bill Horn has provided our group with several presentations and classes over the years and his extensive knowledge and presentation skills have always been highly respected and appreciated by our organization. His presentation on the Lionfish was, without a doubt, the most important presentation ever presented to our Members.
The threat the lionfish poses to our fishery is greater than I ever imagined and the urgency to address this problem on a local and State level is critical to keeping this species from decimating our native fish species.
We have a large group of divers that do not fish, they call themselves Scubaholics. Because they dive only to observe the marine habitat, they do not have fishing licenses. These are very active divers and could be very helpful in our efforts to eradicate the lionfish. They have shown an interest in helping us to destroy lionfish to help save our fishery but they are not comfortable doing so because, the way the laws are currently written, these divers would be breaking the law.
Because of the potential for devastating consequences if we do not enlist help from all divers to destroy the lionfish on sight, The Emerald Coast Reef Association is currently discussing creating a lionfish eradication education plan that we will want to pitch to dive shops. By enlisting the help of Divers all over the State in a year-round eradication effort, we may be able to save our fishery from unchecked predation.
We need your help to accomplish our combined goal of eliminating the lionfish from our coast. Please consider enacting a special rule to exempt the capture/kill of the non-native lionfish from the licensing requirement. Exempting licensing requirements for the lionfish will enable thousands of divers to participate in an effort to save our fishery without fear of legal problems.
Please consider this request and let me know your decision on this extremely important and time sensitive issue.
Thank You for your time to consider this request. I will look forward to your response.
Candy Hansard
Emerald Coast Reef Association
Reef Deployment Director
candy@ecreef.org<mailto:candy@ecreef.org><mailto:candy@ecreef.org<mailto:candy@ecreef.org>>
www.ecreef.org<http://www.ecreef.org>
==================== image File Attachment ====================
image003.jpg, 11357 bytes, added to incident
[---001:005210:11778---]
From: Candy Hansard [mailto:candy@valp.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:44 PM
To: Rich Abrams FWC; Louie Roberson FWC; 'Dodrill, Jon'; 'Horn, Bill'; 'Mille, Keith'
Subject: Lionfish
Hi Rich,
I have no doubts about the dedication of the FWC staff, it has been my great pleasure of working with several of them and, over the years, I have been impressed with their tremendous knowledge and commitment. My frustration is not at all leveled at the fine staff of the FWC but at the Commissioners’ failure to take swift and effective action.
The leaders job is to lead and judging from the lionfish explosion in South Florida, I fear that Florida’s entire fishery is in grave danger. Ordering “studies of a request” that would cost nothing, but could help save our fishery gives the appearance that they do not understand the urgent need for immediate action.
I appreciate your desire to have everyone buy a fishing license and I understand that the FWC needs the revenue but doesn't it feel just a little bit wrong to expect non-fishers to pay for a fishing license, to help save our fishery? Even the suggestion that non-fishers should “pay” to help manage the fishery seems like a PR nightmare just waiting to happen.
At a time when the American people are screaming about out-of-control government and ridiculous regulations, it would seem prudent, as the agency responsible for protecting Florida’s fishery, to be in front of this issue and be the organization that quickly fixes their own regulatory problems.
The biggest problem our fishery faces right now, may very well be the beautiful, voracious and prolific lionfish.
Removing the licensing requirement would impress on everyone the seriousness of the threat. Not only that, it is a way the FWC could enlist a volunteer army to fight the invasion at NO COST to taxpayers or the FWC. Creating a cost-free solution to this very serious threat could make your agency look like hero’s in these tough economic times!
South Florida is already experiencing an invasion that threatens the survival of their recreational and commercial fishery. If this trend continues unchecked, before we know it, the panhandle will have the same problem. Lionfish have already been spotted off our coast. We have no idea how bad the problem is…yet, but the fact they have been spotted here means we have a BIG problem. It could be a matter of just a few years before our fishery suffers tremendous and possibly irreparable harm.
The health of our fishery doesn’t just impact fishermen, it impacts our tourism and our entire State Economy. Without the help of every diver, Florida may not have any chance to win this war.
While I believe studies are important, action is needed right now, to save our fishery. Spending years moving forward, progressing steadily, and working on strategic plans while the lionfish population gets out of control is not acceptable. Remember, Lionfish:
• Sexually mature at 1 year
• Reproduce year round, about every 4 days
• Mature female can release ~ 2 million eggs per year
• Generalist carnivores can consume > 56 species of fish and invertebrates
• Prey can exceed half the body length
• Lionfish populations can consume > 2 pounds of prey / acre / day
• Can reduce prey levels by 90%
• Consume native fishes at unsustainable rates
Something needs to be done…now!
You mentioned that it may take legislative action to change the regulation. Has that determination been made yet? If it does take legislative action, what legislators have been contacted and what was their response to the FWC?
Rich, I do appreciate you watching this situation and keeping me informed. I know you are limited in what you can do but if you have any power to persuade the Commissioners, please try to convince them to launch a State wide kill-the-lionfish campaign. Please contact the marketing department and try to persuade them make the cover of the next published regulations brochure and Fishing Lines showcase the Lionfish issue to encourage everyone to help in the effort to eradicate this species from our waters.
I sincerely thank you for your service to our fishery,
Candy Hansard
GREAT NEWS MEMBERS!
The FWC is going to bring up removing the licensing requirement along with a recommendation to approve this new rule at the next FWCC meeting in April. If approved by the commissioners, this rule could be voted on at the June Meeting. Still a LONG, SLOW process but at least things are moving in the right direction.
Once the Monica Lee is sunk, lets start working together to put together a public information campaign to launch this spring. Maybe we can save our fishery up here in NWF!
Candy
From: Horn, Bill
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 2:19 PM
To: Candy Hansard
Cc: Dodrill, Jon; Teehan, William; Abrams, Rich; Bademan, Martha; McCawley, Jessica
Subject: RE: Picture of Pyramid Mooring Anchor Mold
Candy,
Thanks for the update. I talked to Cindy, she briefed me on the meeting yesterday and told me you are finalizing the latest draft of the sink plan this week. Great, it looks like things are slowly coming together on the new tugboat reef.
Speaking of coming together, on the lionfish issue I have some news. An important meeting was held downtown late yesterday with senior FWC Law Enforcement, Legal and DMFM staff. The waiver of a saltwater fishing license for the take of lionfish was discussed at length. It was determined by the FWC Legal staff, that a change to the Florida Statutes and new legislative authority was not needed for this action, this would have taken forever. This means FWC has the authority to write a new rule, and if the FWC Commissioners approve it, waiving the requirement for a saltwater fishing license for the take of lionfish by divers. Law Enforcement did not have any major enforcement concerns, as long as all the fish in the divers’ coolers were lionfish, no license needed. However, if they had other regulated species in their coolers, then a license would be required. This seems fairly straight forward.
We (DMFM) have been tasked to get a new rule drafted and we will try to get it on the FWC Commission meeting for April, although I am told the agenda is already quite full. This FWC meeting will be in Tallahassee, April 6 & 7 and you are welcome to attend. If we get this issue on the agenda, DMFM staff will make a short presentation and recommendation to adopt this new rule, but it is up to the FWC commissioners to approve it. If they approve moving forward with the new draft rule, it can be adopted at the next FWC meeting in June.I will try to keep you informed as the process moves forward.
Bill
Capt Rick
02-03-11, 10:12 PM
This very informative video from the Bahamas shows what is being done there to help contol this invasive species.
http://www.livestream.com/grandbahamatv/video?clipId=flv_725f3c7e-942c-4bad-87ba-c7610147982d
Let's stick those sucka's and fry 'em up !
Capt Rick
The Skinny on Hunting Lionfish!
by, Rudy Bonn, Reef Relief's Director of Marine Projects
I thought I would clarify a few things concerning the Lionfish invasion here in the Keys, and elsewhere, but first a little background information.
The Indo-Pacific Lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles are members of the scorpion fish family, Scorpenidae. These fish are considered to be nocturnal predators, feeding upon small fishes and crustaceans such as shrimp. Gut content analysis has demonstrated that these two items form the bulk of prey items found in the stomachs of lionfish. However, a large percentage of items found in the stomachs of lionfish were unidentifiable due to advanced digestion. They are generally considered to be generalist piscivores (fish eating) and it has been documented that over 40 different species of fishes have been found and identified through gut analysis from 20 different families of fishes including Serranidae (sea basses and groupers), and Lutjanidae (snappers). Their impact upon marine food webs and trophic levels are still being assessed through scientific research. What we do know is that the lionfish were introduced into the waters of the western Atlantic via the aquarium trade. Since the initial introduction this species has invaded the eastern seaboard of the United States, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico and other areas.
In terms of their reproduction, it has been documented that the species mature relatively early in their life history and produce eggs several times per month throughout the year and thus explains the wide distribution of the species that we see today.Lionfish have the potential to reduce ecologically important species that contribute to the health and sustainability of coral reef ecosystems. For example, parrotfish and other herbivores which help to keep sea weeds and algae from overgrowing coral reefs have been found in the stomachs of lionfish.
Another probable impact, one of which that has been ignored in the literature is the high probability of divers hunting lionfish coming into physical contact with the corals themselves. Lionfish are cryptic and prefer to hide under ledges and in recesses of the reef during the daylight hours and it is this behavior that will increase the probability of hunters coming into contact with the reef.
Corals are protected by a thin, mucous membrane and physical contact will result in that protective membrane being torn, thus allowing for potential access of disease organisms and other pathogens to the coral tissue.
The same holds true for folks hunting lobsters as these organisms also prefer to hide in recesses in the reef during the daylight hours.
Human impacts to coral reef ecosystems are well documented and include everything from green house gas emissions, pollution, over fishing, and many others. When hunting lionfish or lobster, please take with you your most important weapon, that is your conscious, and please avoid coming into physical contact with the corals.
For more information concerning lionfish and to report sightings call Reef Relief 305-294-3100.
Incidentally, lionfish make for excellent table fare, just be careful when cleaning as their spines do contain venom and they can deliver a nasty sting.
The best treatment for a lionfish sting is to soak the injury in water as hot as you can possibly stand, it will help to draw out the venom and denature the proteins contained in the venom. Medical treatment by a doctor is also recommended.
Believe it or not, most of the time I dive I am conscious.
When diving Tripletts reef 3 miles south of the pass in 80' of water I saw a juvenile lionfish 4 inches long. I killed it and left it on the bottom as I did not have a plastic bag to put it in............"They're here!" :eek:
Bob did exactly the right thing to kill the lionfish.
Members, if you see a lionfish, please kill it on sight! If we let them multiply, they will devistate our fishery.
They eat everything and have no natural preditors in our waters.
Please report any sightings to me immediately as I am reporting them to the FWC.
mpostgate
07-10-11, 11:04 PM
Spotted a small lionfish on the member's crate reef last week (1 July). It was not in a position where I could kill it, although I did try.
Spotted a 4" lionfish out at the Eigtheens today, tried to kill it but missed and it got away and hid under the reef.
Spotted a 3" lionfish out at the Eigtheens today, tried to kill it but missed and it got away and hid under the reef. :mad:
Spotted a lionfish 80' west of the Liberty Ship in the rocky bottom.... didn't have polespear so I didn't get it killed:mad:
This is so disturbing to me! I haven't been diving since I've been so busy with the barge but knowing that lionfish are showing up with more frequency breaks my heart. Those fish will devistate our fishery if we don't control them.
The FWC doesn't have an erradication plan. They are conducting research and have been for about 10 years. In the mean time, the lionfish population in South Florida has exploded and now, they are making it up here.
Members, please do as Bob is doing and report sightings and kill lionfish on sight. You may all wish to carry a speargun or pole spear to kill them when you see them.
Thank you Bob for your reports!
Found 3 lionfish at the Eighteens today, 2 were two small to spear and 1 I missed and it escaped into the reef.:mad:
subdude
09-05-11, 07:57 AM
As stated previously, they are here, I see one about 50% of the time now. They do seem to like natural bottom.
Damnit.
subdude
I am working with Bill Horn at the FWC to put together a BIG meeting in October on the Lionfish. It will include a bunch of hands on learning on how to catch, kill, and handle the lionfish.
Members, if you see a lionfish, please do your best to KILL them on sight! Then, please report the sighting/kill on this forum.
Thanks!
Sea-r-cy
09-06-11, 04:27 PM
Taken from the FWC website:
"Harveting lionfish (yes, they didn't spell "harvesting" right on their website ;))
FWC encourages divers and anglers to remove lionfish, which can help Florida's native marine fish and habitats. Lionfish can be speared, caught in hand-held nets or caught on hook and line.
■Recreational divers and anglers must have a recreational fishing license to take lionfish.
■There are no size or bag limits up to a total catch weight of 100 pounds.
■To harvest more than 100 pounds or to sell lionfish, a saltwater products license is required."
Now my take on this;
1. Why is a license necessary to get rid of lionfish? You don't need a hunting license to kill a pig (FWC wants to get rid of them too) in Florida.
2. If they are really wanting lionfish "removed", why limit a catch to 100 pounds?
Sea-r-cy
Cuz
"They are the GUVM'T"
Saw 3 lionfish @ Whitehill today and this is the one that didn't get away!
http://usera.ImageCave.com/nitrox32/Lionfish,%20Bob%20with%20it%20skewered%2092511.JPG
jonesrw
09-26-11, 07:56 AM
I was in Jamaica last week. They are everywhere down there! I saw about 10 the first day just snorkeling along the beach. :eek:
I talked to the locals and they said they are trying to control them too but with only limited success.
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