Lionfish cull could catch on – expert
By Amanda Dale
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On the hunt: Bermuda Sub-Aqua Club Chairman Daron Skipper hunts for lionfish in the reefs at Northrock during Sundays 'Eat 'um to beat 'um" Lionfish Tournament. The tournament had a great turnout and saw four of the invasive fish being removed from the reef.
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Photo: Mark Tatem
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Armed with our paralyser-tip spears we headed out into the big blue.
Taking part in the Island's first Lionfish Tournament, I joined fellow members of Bermuda Sub Aqua Club on a hunting trip to track down the Mohican marauder of the deep.
These greedy guzzlers are hardly the most elusive of creatures with their venomous spines and brazen attitude they have no known predators in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
However, we were somewhat relieved to find none of the stripy predators on our short expedition to Bermuda's reefs on Sunday.
We moored up at a random buoy opposite the Pink Beach Club on the South Shore for our first dive, but all we found was a healthy reef thriving with fish.
Our next stop was the pristine coral reef at North Rock. Again, no lionfish, despite an extensive combing of its nooks and crannies.
As we headed back to shore we weren't the only ones to return with an empty catch.
Only four participants returned with lionfish for the tournament weigh-in at Dockyard.
One was speared in 70 feet of water off The Reefs Hotel on the South Shore, and the other three were caught off Cooper's Island at depths of 12 feet and 90 feet.
Lionfish project leader Chris Flook was happy with the results, especially as at a lionfish tournament in the Bahamas a few weeks ago, some 1,400 of the invasive species were brought in.
Mr. Flook, of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, said: "If we'd caught 1,000 fish it would have been very concerning, because it means it's happening here like everywhere else.
"It means we may be ahead of the game and are potentially managing the population here in Bermuda."
Mr. Flook began the Lionfish Culling Programme last year to encourage divers and fishermen to hunt down the species.
His proactive licensing programme is now being considered by Caribbean neighbours such as the Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Honduras, Central America.
"We were the first Country to start a culling programme," he said. "Although it's too early to say if it's working, we are not seeing the numbers of lionfish that other countries are seeing, and the tournament has also shown this.
"We have the potential to be the one place where we can manage them."
Mr. Flook however, also said that one of the reasons why not many fish were caught on Sunday was that some lionfish could be lurking in deeper waters, following the storm surge of the recent Hurricane Bill and Tropical Storm Danny.
Of those caught, all were mature specimens, two of which were female. In the Bahamas, female lionfish spawn twice a month.
Mr. Flook said: "The two females caught would have spawned up to 30,000 eggs each in the next few weeks, so that's a potential of 60,000 less lionfish on our reefs."
He said Bermuda does have certain advantages over the Bahamas in terms of controlling the population of this invasive species.
Compared to the Bahamas, Bermuda has a smaller reef platform of 200 square miles compared to 100,000 square miles. This brings with it greater coverage and marine policing by islanders.
Mr. Flook added: "Our inshore temperatures in the winter are also in the low sixties which stops lionfish from feeding, as it is too cold for them. In the warmer temperatures of the Bahamas, they are constantly feeding and spawning."
He said that although the lionfish was first spotted in our waters in the 1980s, it is only since 2000 the population has started growing.
Although they first infiltrated the Bahamas in numbers in 2004, already they are dominating the reefs and gobbling up the local fish population.
Mr. Flook said Sunday's Lionfish Tournament would only help in increasing awareness of the need to remove the species from our waters.
Organised by environmental group Groundswell, the 'Eat 'um to beat 'um' event also aimed to show how they can be harvested as a food source.
At Pier 41 Chris Malpas, executive chef at the Bank of Butterfield, cooked up samples of speared lionfish for participants to try. The reaction was "very positive", said Mr. Flook.
"I think everybody who tasted it was very for it. It's a great tasting fish."
He now hopes fishermen and chefs will start looking at lionfish as an addition to the menu at Bermuda's restaurants. Newstead Belmont Hills Resort and Salt Rock Grill are already reportedly interested.
Mr. Flook said: "The tournament has got the message out and so now hopefully people might start asking for lionfish in restaurants and fishermen will bring them in rather than throwing them overboard.
"By eating lionfish we will take the pressure off some of our commercial fish. Every one you take is one less eating our juvenile fish."
There are currently up to 170 people licensed to cull lionfish with a spear and on scuba anywhere on the reef platform. Anyone can take them by netting them or using hook and line, but non-permit holders can only spear them a mile offshore.
Mr. Flook runs education classes at the Bermuda Aquarium for people wanting to apply to Government for a licence. For more information call 293-2727 ext. 127.
Selange Gitschner and Matt Strong of Groundswell described Bermuda's first Lionfish Tournament as "a great success".
"We had over 200 people attend the event at Pier 41 and over 50 applicants," said Miss Gitschner.
"It was great to see Bermudians from all over the Island together partying for a purpose, and we are already planning another tournament."
As well as the prizes on offer, participants were given an 'Eat 'um to beat 'um' T-shirt and enjoyed a bar and entertainment from Harrington Sound.
Their reports of sightings and non-sightings will also help Mr. Flook in his research as to where lionfish are inhabiting on the platform.
Have you spotted a lionfish? Call the Marine Conservation Officer at 293-4464 extension 146 or e-mail lionfish@gov.bm.
