this is an excellent, informative paper, but disturbing; i had NO idea they'd been seen off Long Island, NY!

Lionfish Invasion


these bloody fish are venomous, long-lived [15 to 20-years], & eat ANYTHING.
problem is, as they are aliens nothing eats them. it's not a good outlook.

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

They have invaded Belize very rapidly; I lived there from 2006 - 2008 and dived very regularly - never saw one. Went back last year to see friends who own a dive shop and they are everywhere on the reefs .

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Belize Lionfish Project

they have a multi-pronged project to reduce the numbers - restaurants serve them, fisherfolk are paid
to catch them, they have prizes for biggest catch, etc. They are also FEEDING them to sharks.

It is always a worry when any non native species take a hold. We have a problem in the UK with American signal crayfish, they have taken over a lot of waterways, they escaped from farms producing them for the resturants in the 70s, they can walk several miles over land, burrow many feet into riverbanks causing collapse, eat the native plants insects fish and snails and the smaller native crayfish, infact they have made the native ones extinct in a lot of waterways. They carry a fungus too which kills the native ones. Defras having a hell of a time trying to deal with them.

People releasing and allowing non native species into the enviroment just dont realise what disasters they can cause.

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The best thing to do when stung by a Lionfish (or any venomous animal for that matter!) is to pour hot (not scalding, just as hot as you can tolerate) water over the affected area. The heat breaks down the proteins in the venom. After this, get to a hospital.

And that I learned from Chillinator!

I saw it all in action...my friend's dive shop was very much involved, they took a speargun on every dive and gave the catch to people to cook or fed the sharks!!

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I have seen a few people stung - looked pretty sore !!

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