[Coral-List] Exotic vs. Invasive - Lionfish control

Fri Feb 22 15:03:15 EST 2013

maybe you will find this news article usefull...http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/environment/Lionfish-decreasing_13653509 I am not working currently with lionfish invasion but I´ve had similar results more than a year ago in Venezuela, where i worked as a diving instructor, the dive center where I worked was the first one to report a lionfish in Venezuelan waters and has been trying to control them ever since, in a particular diving site you could see hundreds of them in just one dive, now you are lucky if you see one or two and the regular fauna has returned thanks to our efforts
there are two main scientific facts about this invasion, the first one is that is practically impossible to control it, and the second one y that the results show we can minimize their impact in reduced local environments where we can fish them, and the best bet to do that is promoting their consumption, by doing so we are reducing the impact of over-fishing in native species so they can recover. 
you might find this page interesting, its a diving group focused in using scuba diving and free diving as a tool for scientific research and conservation, we are getting the word out about this problem in Venezuela as much as we can (of course it is in Spanish) 
https://www.facebook.com/BIOSUBciencias

o O L
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...Luis..

> From: lfelks at hotmail.com
> To: frahome at yahoo.com; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:45:18 +0000
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Exotic vs. Invasive - Lionfish control
> 
> there is no reason you can´t do both... killing lionfish is just a more direct way of reducing its impact, reducing our ecological footprint is also a MUST but they are not exclusive... they are both our responsability
> 
> o O L
>   o o u
>   o .i
>   o s
>   ..~ ~  |
>   [(0 0)]J
>   ..\@/...
> ...Luis..
> 
> 
> > Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:29:56 -0800
> > From: frahome at yahoo.com
> > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Exotic vs. Invasive - Lionfish control
> > 
> > If it is "our responsibility to fix the problem" then why not starting from lowering our ecological footprint. Of course killing lionfish to pretend we are doing something is much easier than giving up on our polluting destructive luxurious habits.
> > The fact that the lionfish is "cute" is quite irrelevant to the point made by Dr. Szmant.
> > 
> > Francesca
> > 
> > 
> > ----- Forwarded Message -----
> > From: Holden Harris <holden.earl.harris at gmail.com>
> > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov 
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 6:02 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Exotic vs. Invasive - Lionfish control
> >  
> > Dear Dr. Szmant,
> > 
> > I agree that lionfish are beautiful fish and their introduction into
> > the Western Atlantic is unfortunate.  However I think it is important
> > to realize that the widespread efforts to remove lionfish have come
> > about not because lionfish are seen as individually evil, but because
> > research clearly shows their presence to have deleterious impacts on
> > native fauna and ecosystems.  Lionfish densities in their invaded
> > range can far exceed the highest densities from their native range,
> > and their presence significantly reduces native fish recruitment and
> > biomass, destabilizing natural food webs.   We are also aware that
> > their impacts are not occurring in a vacuum, and that the direct and
> > indirect effects of lionfish may combine with other anthropogenic
> > stressors, such as overfishing and climate change.
> > 
> > It is certainly not the lionfish’s fault that it is a consummate
> > invasive organism, and the blame for their introduction lays solely on
> > our species.  Thus it is also our responsibility to fix the problem -
> > and indeed scientists, volunteers, divers, and fishermen are trying
> > doing just that.  I believe their work should be thanked and lauded,
> > and I find it counterproductive to hear their efforts compared to that
> > of slaughtermen clubbing baby seals.
> > 
> > Respectfully,
> > 
> > Holden Harris
> > 
> > 
> > > For the record, I find lionfish quite cute, and feel terrible that humans have put them in the position of being an invasive species to be hunted to the death in the Caribbean.  They are such beautiful fish, and just hover there as they are faced with a spear gun placed inches from their cute faces.  It is not the lionfish, but humans, who are the nasty ones in this sad story.
> > 
> > > Dear Mike:
> > >
> > > I will leave it up to those on the list who have the references about the lionfish invasion history handy to send you the historical references you seek  (or better yet, you can go to Coral-List digest and you will find them in there somewhere...or Google lionfish).
> > >
> > > My major reason for replying to your query is to comment that: who are we, the humans who have overfished the Caribbean coral reefs and those all over the world as well, to call out the lionfish for being a major predator of Caribbean reef fishes.  Sounds like the kettle calling the pot black.  I guess we don't want the lionfishes to eat the fishes that we want to catch for ourselves?  Reminds me of the Newfoundland baby seal fishermen (slaughtermen?) justifying the slaughter based on the complaint that the seals ate up all the cod leaving none for the humans!
> > >
> > > I suggest that all those folks who are so upset about the lionfish invasion hurting native Caribbean coral reef fishes do their bit by not fishing or eating any of these reef fishes to help their populations recover!
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Holden Earl Harris
> > T: 649.332.3361 (TCI)
> >     904.476.0984 (USA)
> > F: 649.946.3246
> > 
> > The Scool for Field Studies
> > Center for Marine Resource Studies
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