In the news.Cayman net News. Tuesday June 9thhttp://www.radiocayman.gov.ky/servlet/page?_pageid=1816&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&_mode=3&p_thi_id=1

CCMI Gets Lionfish Fighting Tools
09/06/2009
The recent appearance of the beautiful, but dangerous Indo-Pacific Red Lionfish in our waters has united Cayman's 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." Commented 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. 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" stated 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 confirmed. "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."Cayman Island Divers- Bsac-#360 is a not-for-profit club based in Grand Cayman whose members are divers of all ages and walks of life. All share a passion for diving and love to take part in a variety of social activities.

With a custom built 26ft dive boat, they are able to dive most sites around the island without the constraints of many commercial dive boats. It remains one of the most affordable, flexible and enjoyable ways of diving in the Cayman Islands. For more information about the club, contact Sharon Whitmore on 926 1966 or swhitmore@jghs.edu.ky or visit the website for further details http://www.bsac.ky/

The Central Caribbean Marine Institute was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit 501 (c)3 organization. CCMI was established as an international charitable organization after becoming incorporated in the Cayman Islands (2002) and in the UK in 2004.Since its first years, CCMI has proven a valuable asset to the effort to understanding changing coral reef and tropical marine environments, and its research and education programs have established a solid foundation for future reef education and awareness in the Caribbean and for students and researchers from around the world.

For more information on the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, please see www.reefresearch.orgFor 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 949-8469, after hours contact information is also available at this number.PHOTO CAslands Divers working together against invasive species.L-R: Photo Caption: L-R, Bradley Johnson (DoE), Sharon Whitmore (BSAC), Claire Dell (CCMI), Jenny Tordoff (BSAC)
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Lionfish.http://www.londongrip.com

Invasion of Lionfish into Caribbean Waters


In the last few months individual lionfish (Pterois volitans) have been spotted in and around the dive sites of Grand Cayman. First spotted in Little Cayman, in March 2008, since then a multitude of reports have come in.

A Lionfish captured at Eden Rock dive site. Grand Cayman. (Chris Burrowswood)

They may look pretty but in actual fact their presence on here on our reefs could mean the total devastation of the reef fish populations over a very short period of time. In fact in the Bahamas the lionfish reduced the number of native fish by 79% over a 5 week period[1]. These fish have voracious appetites, picking juvenile fish at will that have not evolved any natural survival instincts against them. In many areas it is thought that the whole coral reef community may be decimated as a result of lionfish predation.

Photo of invasive and non invasive areas (taken from Florida Museum of natural History website).


Lionfish are native of the Red Sea and Indo – Pacific regions. This covers most of Western Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan and throughout Micronesia.





Photo of invasive areas
(ref NOAA)

The first documented sight of lionfish on this side of the Atlantic was in Florida in the late 1990s, but since then they have spread rapidly down the eastern sea board and are now been caught as far as Haiti and Puerto Rica.



Lionfish like to be in warm marine tropical waters like the Red Sea, they have been found in depths of up to 400ft, but are usually seen from 80 to 200ft. They don’t mind what type of habitat they live in. It could be either coral reef, or hard pan. The author has also seen them around and in wrecks. They tend to like overhead areas like caves, so you have to look up rather than down !. Lionfish hide in crevices during the night, coming out to hunt in the morning.

Lionfish are conspicuous predators, slow moving, they seem to glide along the reef without a care. Like “boys in the hood” The spines are not used for killing but for cornering their prey. The bright colours; dorsal, anal and pectoral spines ward off potential predators, and as a consequence they tend to be the top fish in the food chain, indeed even the nurse sharks don’t like them and spit them out when they have been fed them.

Lionfish had thought to be brought into Caribbean waters in the ballast of cargo ships however; studies have shown this to be erroneous. It is now known that most of the lionfish in our waters now came from just 8 fish (1 male and 7 females!) that were accidentally released in Biscayne Bay, Florida when an private aquarium broke during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. However since then it’s thought that other private aquarists have released fish into the water, probably by flushing them down the toilet.

So what can be done about this invasion? The answer is that we cannot possibly stop the lionfish now that they are in our waters. Scientists have had very little base line information to go on since there was never a problem in their native habitat, where the ecosystem has remained in balance for hundreds of years with the lionfish a part of it. It’s only now that information is being gathered in order to understand the nature of these creatures.

The news is not good for the native fish, the bottom line is that these fish reach sexual maturity very quickly and breed all year around. The female release two egg masses that are then fertilized by the male. These float rise to the surface when, after a few days the larvae become free floating. The larval stage lasts between 25 to 40 days, enough time for them to reach far on the Yucatan and Caribbean currents [2]

In order to control and manage the invasion a culling program has been introduced here in Cayman as well as in Bermuda and the Bahamas. In Cayman the Department of the Environment (DOE) invited, first local dive masters and later the general public, to a presentation given by a NOAA/REEF/USGS representative. The talk was aimed at educating local dive operators and showing them the best (tried and tested) technique for capturing the lionfish. Spear fishing had been tried but the most effective way is by using two nets and then, carefully grabbing the body using spine resistant gloves, and putting them into a clear dry bag. (see photo)

The lionfish are then collected by the DOE, the gill filaments are removed for DNA testing and their biological data collected.

There have been many workshops all around the Caribbean to facilitate early detection and a rapid response to this threat; licenses have been issued to those people who attended the talk as local marine laws prohibit the taking of any marine organisms from protected waters.

These programs represent the front line in the defense against invasive species and the work of organizations such as REEF have been incremental in finding; not just lionfish but other invasive fish around the world.

At the time of writing this article some 60 lionfish have been captured in Cayman waters and over a hundred have been reported. However, as is often the case, for every one lionfish seen there are many not seen lurking in cracks and crevices ready to ambush defenseless species of fish that have never seen the like of these in their existence. They have no chance, adaptation and evolution takes hundreds of years and by then it will be too late for this population. All we can do is, like King Canute, try and hold back the tide.




Acknowledgements

Photos : Chris Burrowswood

NOAA

Bradley Johnson, Department of the Environment. Cayman Islands

REEF

[1] Albins MA, Hixon MA. (2008) Invasive Indo – Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantci coral – reef fishes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser Vol 367:233.
[2] Morris et al (2008) Biology and Ecology of the Invasive Lionfish, Pterois miles and Pterois volitans. Proceedings of the 61st Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. Nov 10-14.