Lionfish Spearing in Belize

These invasive lionfish have an insatiable appetite and reproduce at incredible rates. It is thought that one female can produce over 2 million viable offspring in one year!

Since the early 1990s, Pacific Lionfish have been populating the reefs of Florida and the Caribbean and causing big problems. It is believed that the invasion started from released specimens from fish tanks potentially during the devastation of hurricane Andrew.

It helps a lot to be a certified scuba diver. You can certainly still hunt lionfish while freediving, but most lionfish hunting is done on scuba for several reasons. One is that the containers to put lionfish in create a bit of drag and it’s not practical to bring one with you when freediving. Also lionfish prefer habitat on the very bottom, often up under ledges. While lionfish can be found in any depth from 5 feet of water down to a thousand feet, the shallower areas tend to get hunted more frequently so the more successful lionfish hunts are usually a little deeper. It is recommended that you be an advanced or at least experienced diver before you begin lionfish hunting because there are some extra challenges involved like carrying more gear, having your focus taken by the hunt, and the risk of a sting.

Lionfish will eat everything from juvenile grunts, parrotfish, trumpetfish, snappers, grouper, and even lobsters and shrimp. These are very valuable species to the balance of the ecosystem as well as to the fishing economy. A new study based in the Bahamas showed that killing 75% of the lionfish population on reefs dramatically increased native fish populations.

On island Julie there is a habit of ridding the oceans of this disastrous fish – and feasting on it afterwards!

Source: lionfish.co | julietsailinganddiving.com