Lionfish Management in the Caribbean Region

1. Lionfish Management in the Caribbean Region Fadilah Ali University of Southampton fza1v07@soton.ac.uk

2. Outline • Brief introduction to lionfish ecology • Management strategies • Case studies • Jamaica • Anguilla • Trinidad & Tobago • Bonaire • Klein Bonaire Project • Planning ahead

3. What are lionfish?

4. What are lionfish? • Top ten most valuable imported aquarium fish • Native to Indo-Pacific Region • Possess unique red, brown and maroon bands; fan-like pectoral fins, and fleshy tentacles below the mouth and above eyes • Voracious predator with venomous spines • Wide adaptability and behaviour • Potentially the most detrimental marine invasive species

5. What’s the problem? No native predators Consume juveniles of commercially important fish Consume fish that graze algae High growth & feeding rates High reproductive rate Year round Multiple spawning each month Venomous spines

6. Management Strategies • Prevention • Early detection/rapid response • Control/slowing spread • Adaptation Decreasing success

7. Jamaica

9. Jamaica • National Lionfish Project, part of a larger Regional Project — Mitigating the Threat of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) — funded by the Global Environment Facility and UNEP • Partnerships among government and nongovernmental organisations • Project is led by NEPA and the University of the West Indies (UWI) Discovery Bay Marine Lab

10. Partnerships in Jamaica • Scotiabank: ‘Scotia goes green on lionfish’ • The Sandals Foundation • Fishermen supplying hotels

11. Jamaica • Eat them to Beat them • Rainforest Seafood plan to offer lionfish as a fillet product • Lionfish for Lent • Bizarre foods documentary

12. Danger? “Assigning commercial gain to something you want to reduce may lead to the need to keep a sustainable stock of lionfish in the wild. It is important to appreciate that the commercial use of any marine invader must be aimed at reducing the impact that the invader has on the native fisheries and native biodiversity” Dr Dayne Buddo Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, Jamaica

13. Anguilla

15. Anguilla • First lionfish: July 2010 • Partnership: Department of Environment, Department of Fisheries, Anguilla National Trust, JNCC • Posters and brochures distributed • Newspaper and radio

17. Anguilla • Misconceptions • Fear • Lionfish released • General unwillingness to eat lionfish

18. Education & Outreach • Public lionfish display on weekend • Fishing villages • 6 public schools • 2 private schools • 1 high school • 2 environmental clubs • Interviews: radio, television, newspaper

19. Trinidad and Tobago

22. Trinidad and Tobago • 2010: Public awareness program • Collaboration: IMA, DMRF, THA, Fisheries • Posters, brochures, exhibits at fairs • March 2012: Lionfish Inter-Agency Committee • Current Aim: To develop a Lionfish National Management and Response Plan • First lionfish sighting: February 2012 • First lionfish capture: July 2012

23. Bonaire • First lionfish: October 26th, 2009 • Public awareness strategy prepared before invasion • Dedicated volunteer effort • Partnerships: STINAPA, CIEE, Diveshops, Volunteers etc. • Success story!?!

24. Effectiveness? • Less lionfish on the reef • Smaller lionfish • Comparison with Curacao

25. Klein Bonaire • Why Klein Bonaire? • February – May 2012 • Dives: Dusk & Night • Research & Removal • Creating & strengthening partnerships

32. Feeding vs Time Proportion (%)

33. Frequency Comparison

34. Klein Bonaire 2013 • Main aim: Cover Klein Bonaire (again) • Main objective: R&R! • Dusk dive only • Covering both directions and depth • Additional parameter: prey fish density • Restaurant involvement?

35. Questions? fza1v07@soton.ac.uk