How people capture lionfish

Scuba divers, as an approach to get rid of lionfish have lionfish hunting events, prizes for captured lionfish and hunting trips.

The most common ways to get rid of lionfish are:

• Spearing them and hand held nets
• Caught on hook and line
• Caught by commercial fisheries

Spearing and placing in hand-held nets are the most common ways to capture them.

Supplies needed for spearing lionfish:

Collection bags

A scuba diver with a large collection of lionfish

A type of spearing gun

Collectiong Lionfish

Another type of spearing gun

 

Why lionfish are an issue

Read this great article from Smithsonian Magazine but I will highlight some of the most important facts:

• No one knows when lionfish were introduced but are most likely from Florida aquariums in around 1992
• Female lionfish reproduce very quickly, so quickly that its rate is almost unheard of in marine species
• The first two species to invade were Pterois Volitans and Pterois Miles
• A lionfish’s stomach can expand up to 30 times its normal size after a meal
• Lionfish have little to none known predators but they eat everything

Lionfish are not native to their reefs and areas where they live. Because female lionfish lay so frequently, they reproduce like crazy and have no known predators. They eat most of the creatures in their habitats and have spread through lots of Indo-Pacific habitats. They are killing all of the native fish and ruining our coral reef habitats.

Extreme Lionfish

The largest ever caught lionfish was caught by Captain Jimmy Nelson in Florida and measured at 18.75 Inches

The smallest ever caught lionfish that I can find is this picture but it doesn’t say the size. It’s pretty tiny