Lionfish explosion in the caribbean

[Dre]

I just saw on channel 2 that when hurrican Andrew hit the caribbean 17 years ago 6 lionfish escaped from someone's aquarium in to the open sea in Florida and now they are thousands all over the caribbean eating up the smaller fishes.You maybe saying so what ...but remember that lionfish are not from the caribbean they are from the Indian and Pacific Oceans.The outbreak is so astonishing in the Bahamas they are killing and eating them by the hundreds every day wow.
Here's a link to check out for more information.
www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/flatview/?cuecard=39765

 

[Chraddam]

wow

My brother and his wife went diving there a few months ago. They had just seen my tank, and, at the time, I had a fuzzy dwarf lion(which later committed suicide by diving out of my tank in an attempt to attack one of my cats...). When they returned from their trip, we met for dinner, and they told us how their dive guide told them the very same story! They proceeded on their dive, and watched as the guides skewered lionfish like kee-bobs, and they were EVERYWHERE!!! And, they were HUGE!!! Apparently, this has become a major problem, and the people in the affected areas are being encouraged to kill as many as they can. Hmmm...maybe it's time to plan a trip to the Carribean to capture some live specimens?:eek1:

 

[prattreef]

This is not a new story, but you need not travel all the way to the Caribbean to capture your own Lionfish as unfortunately tons of them have made their way via the gulf stream as tropical strays into our local waters. They catch them by the dozen out at Atlantis Marine World and there is some evidence they survive the winter and are actually breeding locally.

 

[Dre]

Well honestly this is news to me lionfish is one of my favorite marine fish and they say the mature females spawn over 30,000 eggs a week.I went to google news and there is a lot of information on the lionfish issue.

 

[Josh]

It isn't the season just yet, but they do catch lionfish by the hundreds on the reefs on Long Island.

 

[prattreef]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/6/aafeature

 

[90reefernyc]

When I was down in the Bahamas at the Atlantis last year the story was they were coming from the displays at the Atlantis because they filter the water in the tanks with the oceans water and the fish egg were escaping into the sea. I don't know for sure but I bet there is allot of different theories.

 

[aznt1217]

Possibly the worst fish to have in the Caribbean. They are really wreaking havoc down there.

The fish were there prior to the Atlantis Aquarium.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

This bring me to think why aren't they a threat in the pacific. What predators / conditions in the Pacific has keep them under control?

BTW anyone know if they taste delicious? Can we keep them in check?

 

[mr_X]

there are plenty of them down by the carolinas too. i was talking to a guy who was diving down there and he said basketball sized lionfish were everywhere.

it's another epidemic like snake heads.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

If govenrment have open license to catch them in NY, I am sure tons of amatuer fisherman will catch and sell them in the market. LOL

I still wonder if they tase good.

 

[Imbarrie]

Just to give you a timeline of this,

I used to crew dive liveaboards all over the Bahamas until 2003.
I was under the water 2-3 hours every day.
I had never seen or heard of a Lionfish. Our eyes would be all over the reef looking for things to point out to other divers.

So this did not take too long to become a problem.

Also, back then, the only way to spearfish was freediving on snorkel.
If the government is allowing spearfishing on SCUBA then this must be pandemic.

 

[aznt1217]

btw.... I think the thread meant to say explosion?

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i was thinking about this just yesterday.

this is very true. while on vacation in february i took the ferry to culebra and when i was coming back they had an article on the dock asking people to kill these lionfish if they came in contact with them while snorkeling of scuba diving.

also my girlfriend's brother is stationed in guantanamo and they dive over there all the time. he showed us some of his underwater pics and there were tons of lionfish.

 

[Pareef]

if there are so many why do they cost more than 50 cents. we can use them to cycle our tanks and save the damsels

 

[Dre]

I wonder if the prices will go down on these fish at the LFS. This brings back memories of when i had a lionfish only tank a few years ago.I feel bad for the hundreds of lionfish that are being slaughterd i guess they have to do what's necessary to protect the ecosystem before it's too late.

 

[mavl666]

Can also find them off the Jersey shore near Belmar, Shark River and Manasquan to name a few places.

 

[ereefer]

I was in the Turks and Cacios Islands back in march. On one snorkling trip just 40 yds off shore, there were several large lionfish hunting smaller fish. These islands have always been a nature reserve and strictly prohibits any catching or killing of marine life except for now. There is no limit on how many lionfish can be killed.

 

[Chris Jury]

This bring me to think why aren't they a threat in the pacific. What predators / conditions in the Pacific has keep them under control?

Lots of predators eat them in the Pacific: lizardfish, triggers, groupers, etc. Very few seem to have any inclination to eat any significant number in the Atlantic. Also, it would be interesting to see what rates of recruitment are like--I'm not aware of any recruitment data comparing the two oceans.

BTW anyone know if they taste delicious? Can we keep them in check?

No idea what they taste like. They're already out of check in a lot of places. We might be able to limit their impacts, but extermination (the ideal) has about a snow ball's chances...

 

[Imbarrie]

I have often thought that in the end there will be nothing but grey goo, AOL trial CDs and lionfish.