Almost three weeks gone.
These were seen at White Slave today.
Both lion fish pics are of the first one; a second was found farther south.
Both were marked and both had been there long enough to have growth on the markers.
Sadly, this seems to be a losing battle.

wonderful pictures

maybe we should all take classes from stinapa to learn how to catch them without being stung

just sayin
lol
es

nice pics, unfortunate subject.

As to the other, AFIK there have not been any successes in 'winning' the battle againt lionfish invasions?

I wonder out loud if the efforts against them actually even matter in the long run, beyond the 'feel good' factor so folks at least "think" something is being done, regardless of its effect. You cannot capture them at anything approaching a fraction of a percent of their breeding capability.

I know that Jerry is the resident fish expert. So to him I'd ask if he thinks there is any appreciable difference in waging a campaign against them or just letting nature take its course?

(Message edited by chicagorandy on May 7, 2010)

(Message edited by chicagorandy on May 7, 2010)

Recent visit saw 4 at White slave and few along a northern stretch from there. Successfully removed them. After diving many sites, that seemed to be the spot where we found the most. Im wondering if they like the current there. White slave has a point and the current shifts and can run strong at times. Probably just coincidence.

the problem with "letting nature take it's course" with an invasive species is exactly the opposite: nature doesn't know what to do with invasives. it's not natural to have one species from one ecosystem artificially introduced to another ecosystem across the planet. the established species there have not evolved with the invasives and therefore have not evolved defenses against them and, as we are seeing with the lionfish, the invasives can devistate a non-native ecosystem, and quickly. i don't know what the answer to this current problem is, but the longterm answer is this: don't let the invasives in in the first place. we've got to be better stewards of our collective home.

I agree with you Hilary.
Is there a way we can be pro-active as a group to help now?

With the amount of divers in the water in Bonaire I would think they could be controlled but never completely removed. Off the coast of the Carolinas and south there are huge populations that are breeding and putting billions of eggs into the water. Sorry to say but its a done deal unless the government or private markets makes it a commercial business by putting a price tag on their fins!

i wonder (seriously) if scientists could come up with some form of birth control for these guys. they already have it for several species of mammals... don't know what we can do right now other than follow the recommendations of the scientific community & hope they get it right. before every other fish on the reef is eaten.

Will anyone get upset if you kill one of these critters? A nice long pointed stick should do the trick. And of course have your buddy between you and the critter in the event you only wound him and he gets upset.

I agree with Hillary Mom of Twins completely. She must be a biologist with such telling insights, not that only biologists have exclusive talents, but she is scientifically literate, to say the least.

The following I have taken from a scientific article that is my best source for data on lionfish: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06172009-153721/unrestricted/etd.pdf

This was his thesis submitted to U of North Carolina for his Ph D.



LOCAL ABUNDANCE
Whitfield et al. (2007) provided the first assessment of lionfish densities off North
Carolina and reported an average of 21 lionfish per hectare across 17 locations in 2004.
Lionfish densities off North Carolina have continued to increase. Recent assessments off
New Providence, Bahamas indicate lionfish densities are more than 18 times higher than
the 2004 North Carolina estimates (Green and Côté 2009).

Further, lionfish densities in the Bahamas are more
than eight times higher than estimates from their native range (Green and Côté 2009).
THis means in the Bahamas, the lionfish density is around 380 individual lionfish per hectare. The main reasons for this explosion in the Bahamas is that they did not start controlling the fish numbers immediately, but let some time pass and the catching up is impossible.
In another report, the capture of around 85 % of the lionfish numbers is needed to keep the numbers in equilibrium. I am just guessing that here on Bonaire we are doing that. We have some of the most savy divers here, and the conditions are favorable for spotting and the subsequent capture by a well trained group of volunteers. And, we started proactively. Lad Akins came here in the summer of 2009 for the first public meeting about lionfish, and I asked him, "Was this the first island that you came to before the first lionfish was reported?" His answer was "Yes!" Our first one was on 26 October, 2009. Thus far, we have captured 223.

Other tidbits:
Spawning frequency
The estimated frequency of lionfish spawning was every 3.6 days for North Carolina and 4.1 d for the Bahamas

Fecundity
The mean ± S.D. number of eggs per egg ball was 12,315 ± 5,939 equating to a mean
batch fecundity of 24,630 eggs (two egg balls per spawning event). The range of egg
counts per egg ball was 5,395 - 20,696 eggs. Using the average of the two spawning
frequency observations (spawning every 3.85d) and the mean number of eggs per egg
ball, the mean monthly fecundity is estimated to be 194,577 eggs with a mean annual
fecundity (assuming year round spawning) of 2,335,052 eggs per lionfish

unfortunately, it does seem to be a losing battle. with people sighting lionfish at depths greater than 150ft it seems unlikely that they can be controlled. sure, stinapa can train people to catch them but the majority of bonaire divers are recreational divers and most of them rarely go deeper than 60-80 feet.

given that the spines are poisonous, i don't see any of the local fish becoming a predator of lionfish. one can hope that the local fish can develop a taste for lionfish eggs. that would sure fatten them up.

'fecundity'?

I luv it when you speak French - lol

I ain't no scientist ner nuthin' though I was an embalmer....but I digress.

So lemme understand, presuming there was only ONE breeding lionfish ever in Bonaire's waters, in the past six months it could have bred roughly one million babies.....and the good folks at the task have captured and killed 223.

We're gonna need a bigger boat?

jerry, thanks, what a nice compliment! alas, i did not follow my calling and become a marine biologist or the first female jacques cousteau, i decided to torture myself and go into medicine. but it's hard not to apply my scientific training (with people) to the environment & it's challenges. i'm certain that most bonaire divers share my passions for her ecosystem. just give me a lesson & a sharp stick. we might be able to come up with a nice supply of fresh fish for the island cats...

i wonder, do donkeys eat fish???

People eat lion fish. They are very tasty. Someone needs to open a lion fish specialty restaurant and we need to get permission to allow folks to get trained to capture these boogers at the restaurant to be cooked and eaten.

Call it the Bright Lion or something. Credit one Bright for every lion brought to the cook.

Just my 2psi.

e.

Eric -- I like it! Especially the Bright idea!!

Eric has repeated what folks like Vince many others have been suggesting. How long do they need to be "studied"? We are the ultimate predators on this planet. Why are we pretending that we are not? People hate flounder and other reef fish on menus and would celebrate Lionfish. Let's GO people, let's go!!!

Not sure if you are serious but a full grown lionfish yields a piece of meat a similar size to that of a bluegill/small bass/crappie or equivalent fish.

Combine the need for several lionfish to make a meal and the extra effort needed to safely clean one without injury and I think you may see my point.

Good luck with the restaurant.