|
Deep Blue Divers along with most
dive operations in the Cayman Islands are taking part in the
government sanctioned culling of the invasive Lionfish. For further
reading see below. Lionfish
are believed to have been released from aquarium in Florida in the
early 1990s and since then their population has exploded, spreading
from the mid-Atlantic coast of the US to southern Caribbean.
The venomous fish have no natural predators in the Caribbean and a
single lionfish can wipe out nearly 80 per cent of small and
juvenile fish populations on a patch of coral reef in just five
weeks. They can spawn 30,000 eggs a month.
Scientists are concerned that
the lionfish may severely reduce the abundance of native coral-reef
fish important as food for humans, such as grouper and snapper in
their juvenile stages, as well as species that maintain the
integrity of coral reefs, like grazing parrot fish that can prevent
seaweeds from smothering corals.
Currently, the only way to
cull the lionfish population is for divers to catch them in nets.
Culling is very effective over small areas, but complete eradication
is unlikely unless natural controls - predators, competitors,
parasites, diseases - kick-in. More
info Links:
GOV Cayman
DOE Cayman |
