The Club Articles

Divers, conservationist tackle lionfish

 

 The recent appearance of the beautiful, but dangerous Indo-Pacific Red Lionfish in the Cayman Islands’ waters has united divers and marine conservationists in their efforts to preserve our treasured marine environment.

A recent example of this union was a generous donation of specialized equipment to the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) by the not-for-profit dive club the Cayman Islands Divers - BSAC # 360.

“Thanks to the generous contribution of this specialized equipment from Cayman Islands Divers, CCMI is properly equipped to do our part in helping to control the population of lionfish here in the waters of the Cayman Islands,” said Claire Dell from CCMI’s Little Cayman Research Centre.

The lionfish is a voracious predator capable of removing large numbers of native marine species from local waters with few, if any, natural predators in their newly invaded range. Combined with their ability to reproduce more often and at an earlier age than most other reef fish they have the potential to become the most abundant predator on the reef and rapidly devastate populations of local reef species if management and control measures are not implemented.

Such a rapid and severe change to the balance of the ecosystem could have permanent affects on the structure and composition of the local marine ecosystem, according to the experts. With this in mind, the Department of Environment has taken the stand that all lionfish must be removed from our waters.
“Red Lionfish should only be caught by those trained and licensed to do the job, they have venomous spines and can be harmful to humans. Specialized equipment is needed to safely capture the species,” said Bradley Johnson of the DoE.

Members of the Cayman Islands Divers are very committed to preserving the marine environment, and promoting sustainability of the coral reef ecosystem. Several have recently attended the lionfish licensing sessions provided by the Department of the Environment.

“Many of us are actively involved in spotting and capturing this invasive species,” newly elected-Chairman Sharon Whitmore said. “We are pleased to be able to donate not just our time, but this much-needed equipment to the CCMI to help with their efforts in Little Cayman.”

For more information on the lionfish please visit the DoE’s website at http://www.doe.ky/. To report a lionfish sighting please call the DoE on (345) 949-8469, after hours contact information is also available at this number.

Full Story:

http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-16047--1-1---.html

http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=10382959