Bermuda volunteers licensed to impale lionfish within the one mile limit
The lionfish is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but this fish – also known as Dragon fish or Turkey fish – has now invaded the warmer coral regions of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
To combat the problem around Bermuda, 31 volunteers have been issued special licenses by the Ministry of the Environment and Sports to engage in spear fishing of lionfish within the one mile limit that is legislated for spear fishing activities, The Royal Gazette reports.
“The Lionfish constitutes a real threat to Bermuda’s reef ecosystem and commercial fishery. It is incumbent on us in Bermuda to do all we can to protect our marine ecosystem. In fact, even though this problem is relatively new to Bermuda, we are already being hailed by other countries and international organisations as an example of proactive management of Lionfish.” minister of the Environment Elvin James said to The Royal Gazette.
Several species of fish the family Scorpaenidae are known as lionfish, but the species causing trouble around Bermuda is Pterois volitans. It is believed to have been introduced to the ecosystem by saltwater aquarists in Florida. In order to better understand Pterois volitans and the effect it might have as an invasive species, the Department of Conservation Services will be collecting Lionfish from local waters and study them.
If you see a lionfish in the waters around Bermuda, contact the Marine Conservation Officer at 293 4464 extension 146 or email lionfish@gov.bm. The Marine Conservation Officer wish to know date, location and depth, and the approximate length of the fish (from snout to tail tip). The Marine Conservation Officer might need to contact you for further questions, so leave a phone number or email address.
Don’t try to catch the fish, because lionfish can give you a venomous sting with its fins. If you’re stung by a lionfish, seek medical attention right away. The sting is really painful.
You can read the full article in The Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s only daily newspaper.
I love it, this article automatically blames the aquarium hobbyists in Florida for the introduction of this species. The fact is, that is only 1 small possibility, and the likely culprit is in fact the shipping industry. Ships traveling through the native waters of P. volitans regularaly take seawater into the ballast tanks of the ships. Contained in that water is thousands of tiny planktonic stage P. volitans. These young are unwittingly transported in the ballast tanks and inadvertently introduced into the ecosystem. It just sickens me that the introduction of an invasive species is automatically blamed in irresponsible hobbyists. While they do exist and I’m sure there are some of these fish that are released into the wild, the odds of enough being introduced in just the right locations to form a viable population are astronomical. The factors included the need for multiple males and females to be introduced and for them to all find each other. The simple introduction of one of each will not provide a sufficient gene pool to sustain a viable population for very long at all.
Comment by ILuvMyGoldBarb — July 12, 2008 @ 5:56 am
Some of the work NOAA, REEF, and USGS (and others) proves Atlantic lionfish started from a very small population. Genetics point to 8 females! They reach maturity very quickly and reproduce like rabbits! No known predators, warm water and lots to eat…..2004 first lionfish seen in the Bahamas…2009 lionfish dominate the reefs in Bahamas! 750,000 lionfish are imported every year for the pet shop trade in Florida, no ships from lionfish native areas come to Florida directly and they aren’t found swimming through the Panama cannal. Now the research is definately pointing to the pet trade. Lionfish are the first fish to become established but there are about 30 other fish seen off the coast of Florida that aren’t supposed to be there. One was a bamboo shark! Hard to squeeze into ballast tanks!
Comment by Flippafoot — February 17, 2009 @ 12:00 pm