Lionfish:  A Tropical Invasion

Our lionfish program focuses on removing this invasive species from the reef ecosystem. People often feel that “releasing” a fish or any other animal into the wild is a good thing, but not in the case of the lionfish! The initial source of the lionfish invasion can be pinpointed to personal aquarium releases in Florida, USA back in 1985, probably by people whose lionfish were getting too big for the tank or eating the other fish. Lionfish are indigenous to the Pacific and Indian Oceans but not the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans. In their natural habitat, they have a diet that is not a threat to the environment; and they have natural predators to keep their numbers in check. However, in the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans they are an invasive predator, feeding on reef species that are key to healthy reef ecosystems. These native reef species have no evolutionary defense mechanism against the invasive lionfish.

Lionfish: An Invasive Species

• Spawn approximately 30,000 to 40,000 eggs every 3-5 days (over 2 million eggs each year)
• Eats prey up to 1/2 their body length and can consume 20 native reef fish in only 30 minutes
• A single lionfish can reduce native fish on a reef by 80% in just 5 weeks
• Can live up to 30 years

Since the invasive lionfish have no known predators and can produce up to 2 million eggs each year their populations are exploding unchecked. Moreover, as an invasive species, they’re feeding on key endemic species and outcompeting native populations.  This threatens the delicate balance of coral reef ecosystems that rely on native reef fish to clean the reef of algae and parasites.  In addition, because lionfish feed on prey normally consumed by snappers, groupers, and other commercially important native species, their presence negatively affects the well-being of valuable commercial and recreational fisheries.  As their populations explode exponentially, they put additional stress on coral reefs already struggling from the effects of climate change, pollution, disease, overfishing, and other stressors.

What will you be doing?

You will be capturing and removing as many lionfish as you can!!  As part of our scuba dive team of invasive lionfish hunters, you will patrol the reefs of the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve, part of the famed Belize Barrier Reef.  Here in southern Belize, we at ReefCI spotted our first lionfish in November 2009 but they were few and far between. Now we are spotting them on every reef and sometimes as many as 50-100 at one dive site. This is a dramatic increase and extremely worrying as we are the only volunteers regularly patrolling the second largest barrier reef in the world.  After capture, we dissect some lionfish and study their stomach contents for research purposes. Then we eat!  ReefCI volunteers often get lionfish on the dinner menu, cooked in garlic and black pepper or ceviche, they are extremely tasty.

ReefCI is currently supplying local restaurants with the lionfish we remove. We are giving them lionfish to include on their menus to introduce lionfish as a food source and to increase awareness of this problem amongst restaurant customers!! Lionfish ceviche, lionfish fish cakes, and fried whole lionfish are all delicious to eat. ReefCI is also working with local Belizean women to help them make jewelry from the spines and fins. We give them the sun-dried fins and spines and then buy the jewellery from the women and make them available for purchase.

We are extremely proud of our battle against the invasive and destructive lionfish. ReefCI is removing more lionfish and collecting more data on lionfish than any other conservation organization in the country of Belize. ReefCI staff and volunteers are on target to remove over 7,000 lionfish this year alone and dissect 1,585 for research purposes!

Please join us in the fight to save the reef from this invasive species!

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