Speaking of lionfish, the Barbados Fisheries Division is also gearing up to respond to the imminent arrival of the invaders:
[T]he Asian lionfish is just off Barbados’ shore – as close as Guadeloupe. Their imminent arrival has sent two departments – the Fisheries Division and the Coastal Zone Management Unit – into high alert.
…
by 2004, they had appeared in The Bahamas and, since then, have consistently been swimming south, through the waters of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, multiplying all the while. By the end of last year, 2010, they were sighted in Guadeloupe and in the eastern waters of Venezuela.
“So they seem to be coming at us potentially from the south and from the north,” Parker said.
Lionfish, Parker noted, have all the characteristics that “make it a very successful invasive species” – a high reproductive capacity and a very young age to sexual maturity; a long lifespan of about 15 years and no main predators.
“The lack of natural predators is a problem, but the major issue with them is that they are voracious eaters of our fish,” he said.
“So when they are eating our small reef fish, they are eating two types – the species that live on the reef that don’t grow very big at any point in their life and are an important food source for our commercial fish, and they are taking juveniles from a whole set of species.”
This could spell ecological disaster for our reefs as they would be devouring the fish, like chubs, that help to promote healthy coral. In addition, they could spell the doom of our fishing industry, taking the livelihood from our fishermen and the fish from our tables. But there is hope, if locals are willing to break out their frying pans, saucepans and other cooking implements.
…
Parker is urging sea-bathers, divers who spearfish and fishermen to be vigilant and record the exact location of any lionfish they might see to the Fisheries Department and the Coastal Zone Management Unit.
For more, see the original article from the Nation News.
[Photo: GenBug]
Please let your readers be aware that in ST. Thomas USVI, 7 lionfish were tested for cigutuera poisoning. 4 came back with the Fish Poison. NOAA says to treat it like any other reef fish. Unfortunately this type of testing on the Lionfish is in its infancy. More data should be taken for the safety of the Caribbean and abroad.