Saturday, January 24, 2015

Lionfish Invasion



Lionfish
Pterois is a genus of venomous marine fish, commonly known as lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific.
It’s hard to be a diver nowadays and not know about the Lionfish invasion in the Caribbean.  The problems stems from what is termed an invasive species. It has no natural predators on this side of the planet to restrain its population growth and the population has exploded.  As a result the food supply gets depleted and the negative snowballing effect on the environment begins to harm the reef. 
Campaigns to control their harmful presents have sprung up over the entire continent.  Of the many different ideas of controlling their population one stands out as being very effective, divers spearing and eating them.  Divers have devised a special spear that has been approved by industry. 
 Laws, rules and regulations about spearing fish while diving have been lifted for this one species. Restaurants have included them on their menus as a special delicacy. There is no worse curse on the planet than to taste good.

If you’re a diver or snorkeler and you love our reef pick up a spear and kill a Lionfish. 

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