[Coral-List] Teaching Mega-Fauna to eat Invasive P. Volitans

[Paul Hoetjes]

Dear Damien,

Feeding lionfish to predators is not only NOT a solution, but also a really
really bad idea. First, you cannot possibly train enough predators to eat
lionfish to have any measurable effect, and since there is no train the
trainers program for predators, they will not teach their fellow predators.
Predation on lionfish will happen naturally or not at all.
Second, these misguided attempts have led to many serious incidents and
dangerous situations all over the region. When you teach potentially
dangerous predators that humans will feed them, they will become
conditioned to this and will start looking for food from any diver, often
harassing or even attacking them. This has led to serious moray bites and
shark bites of people hunting lionfish but also of people who were just
diving and had no idea why they were suddenly attacked. Not good for
tourism, and definitely not ecotourism.

Just a very bad idea!

Best,
Paul


On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 2:58 PM, Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu> wrote:

> Hello my esteemed coral enthusiasts,
>
> Here's a topic for debate,
>
> Ecotourism or Eco-Solution?
>
> As we all know the Lionfish invasion of the Caribbean has severely altered
> the feeding structure of the present reefs.
>
> While some may could find it controversial to work hands on with animals
> of these communities to try and develops their taste for this insidious
> white meat, I would like to know your thoughts.
>
> Here is a video where I am directly feeding live Lion Fish to some pretty
> massive Black Tips;
>
>
>
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0rRTUjldicU
>
>
>
> Please let me know your thoughts on the PROs Vs. CONs of this mitigation
> method.
>
> Let's make helping the reefs exhilarating!
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> Damien Beri
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>