# 2 Lionfish Contests



## Candy (Jan 6, 2008)

*The Emerald Coast Reef Association*
*is hosting **2 contests to motivate people to kill the lionfish*​ 
*You do NOT have to be a member of ECRA to participate and there is NO entry fee.*

Click on the attachment for details.

*If you have questions, please e-mail me at: *[email protected] 

For more information on the lionfish, go to: www.ecreef.org 

We are based out of Niceville Florida and operate out of the Destin Pass.


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## below me (Jan 13, 2012)

nice! can i hire scott to put me on the fish?


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Anyone that thinks they will ever get rid or even slow down the Lion fish is nuts. They are regretfully here to stay. They live everywhere from the shallows to depths beyond any divers capability. Kill a few and mother nature will just produce more until a happy medium is reached. :thumbup::thumbup:


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## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

sealark said:


> Anyone that thinks they will ever get rid or even slow down the Lion fish is nuts. They are regretfully here to stay. They live everywhere from the shallows to depths beyond any divers capability. Kill a few and mother nature will just produce more until a happy medium is reached. :thumbup::thumbup:


Until the Asian market discovers them and their powers as an aphrodaisiac. :thumbsup:


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## TONER (Mar 25, 2008)

then what ever happned to red snapper we almost have them fished to extinction with only a 45 day season


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## Candy (Jan 6, 2008)

*You can make a difference!* 

Removing just one female fish takes 2 million eggs a year out of the water. If enough people are out there taking lionfish every time they dive, we can save our fishery. Besides, lionfish are delicious and there is no bag limit or closed season! Heck, you don't even have to have a fishing license to kill them now!!

Last year I spent 2 weeks in the Bahamas and saw very few groupers, triggers etc... What did I see a lot of? LIONFISH The Bahamas does not allow spearfishing while on scuba and lionfish do not bite hooks so the lionfish population has created a crisis for their native fishery. That was a wake-up call. We have to be agressive and we need the masses to participate in the effort to remove as many lionfish as possible. 

This summer I went to Belize. They do not allow spearfishing while on scuba either but, several years ago, as soon as the lionfish showed up on their reefs, they changed their rules to allow lionfish spearing and began a bounty and educational program. We saw an abundance of native reef fish and only 2 lionfish and both of them were killed by tourists that were given lionfish spears by the dive operator. Our dive operator had a stack of lionfish spears for anyone that wanted to kill lionfish. (I was impressed that they were even enlisting the help of tourists!) Belize is an example of what we can do here if enough people take the threat seriously and don't throw their hands up in defeat. 

I hope that all spearfishers will join in the effort to remove lionfish and I hope that our reward program will motivate a lot of you to join the effort to save our native fishery. 

Have fun, stay safe, eat some delicious lionfish and, Win some GREAT prizes!


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## K-man (Oct 18, 2011)

Sounds like a fun challenge to me!


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## no woryz (Oct 2, 2007)

Looks like it could be fun...we have to look into this.... Belowme..... Scott is already locked into a lifetime contract with the K-crew.....sorry....


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## Plattinum (Sep 16, 2010)

When we dove in Cozumel last November our dive operator was offering lionfish pole spears to those that wanted to kill them as well. I like the contest idea. I hope to turn in some entries.


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## lightchop (Jan 15, 2009)

Since I took up the sport of diving and spearfishing in the last three years, I have certainly seen the numbers and size of lionfish grow on the reefs and wrecks that I frequently dive. I recently purchased a lionfish spear from MBT and plan to kill as many as I can on each dive. I would certainly think with a joint effort from divers we can make a difference. Also, I have found they are not hard to kill. You can wack about a half dozen or so very quickly. I am in for the challenge and will do my part.


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## TURTLE (May 22, 2008)

*I heard there was abounty on them on the news but didn't catch how much it was? Any one know?*


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## coolbluestreak (Jun 27, 2011)

Divepros will give you $2.00 credit for them.


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## Candy (Jan 6, 2008)

Turtle,
If you're talking about Channel 3 news last night, Laura was talking about the Emerald Coast Reef Association's Lionfish Removal Reward Program that I posted to start this thread.

*Everybody:*
Here is the good news about a lot of us targeting the lionfish:
Lionfish are site specific which means that once they begin to colonize a reef, they stay within 300'. This makes it easy for divers to keep reefs cleaned off. 

Lionfish are very easy to kill. Just be careful with the spines. I wear a Hex Armor glove on my left hand to protect me from getting stung. 

If you want more information about the lionfish, go here: http://www.ecreef.org/Lionfish_Pages/Lionfish_Info_video.htm


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## Pulpo (Feb 12, 2012)

Dive Pros offers $2.50 store credit for each lionfish brought in.


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## Candy (Jan 6, 2008)

Don't forget when you're diving this weekend ~ if you kill lionfish, you could win some FANTASTIC prizes from the Emerald Coast Reef Association!

*Everyone is invited to our next social*
*GREAT DOOR PRIZES!* $85.00 Titanium filet knife set and a $30.00 Lionfish catch Bag

*When:* *Friday September 28* Dinner orders and Social hour begins at 6:00
Special Guest Speaker starts at 7:00pm: 
*Scott Jackson* Bay County Artificial Reef Coordinator 
_Learn what Bay County is doing with their Artificial Reef Program_ 

*Where:* *Cafe Bienville in Niceville*
314 Bayshore Drive Niceville, FL 32578
(850) 678-2233

*ECRA has Hex Armor needle puncture resistant gloves for a donation of $30.00! Great for Lionfish hunters!*

*RSVP to [email protected] *


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## no woryz (Oct 2, 2007)

just bringing this back to the top.... 

The K-Crew took the top 3 places out of 4 and will be over in Destin @ AJ's on Sunday for the ceremony starting @ 5:30pm... Scott finished first, I took second & Mark got in third... we each devoted a day to the lionfish and total for 3 days of diving was 372 lionfish off our local reefs.... Florida Senator Don Gaetz is attending & presenting awards as he has taken a active role in the Lionfish situation...Hope the FWC will jump in on this & help Candy & the ECRA help fight the invasion... Looks like some great prizes for us to pick up for our efforts.... everyone's invited so see ya there....

Clint


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## WhackUmStackUm (Jan 31, 2010)

Evensplit said:


> Until the Asian market discovers them and their powers as an aphrodaisiac. :thumbsup:


Yep, that would put a dent in the population!


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## Pulpo (Feb 12, 2012)

Great job and congratulations to the K-crew


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## AUDIVE (Jan 25, 2011)

. we each devoted a day to the lionfish and total for 3 days of diving was 372 lionfish off our local reefs.... 
Clint[/QUOTE]



372 lionfish @ 2,000,000 eggs each is 744,000,000 eggs that will not be here. :thumbup:


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## no woryz (Oct 2, 2007)

AUDIVE said:


> 372 lionfish @ 2,000,000 eggs each is 744,000,000 eggs that will not be here. :thumbup:





coolbluestreak said:


> Divepros will give you $2.00 credit for them.



I'm doing the math....... Were Rich..... seems reasonable to me.....


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