# Offshore Lionfish Report - 12/17-18/13



## dkdiver (Oct 15, 2007)

Greetings, I wanted to post some details and a couple of pictures from a lion fish hunt that went on the last two days. The diving boards have been talking about it for a while but there has not been much discussion on the fishing side and and thought everyone should know how bad the lionfish situation is getting.

My boat went out on Tuesday and brought in 343 lion fish off of *five* pyramids in *three* sites. The unpublished sites have been deployed in the Escambia East Laars. Another boat went out into the East Laars on Wednesday, hitting public bridge rubble and culvert numbers, and a private chicken coop, and pulled in over 160. There is nobody here who can't do the math.

Here are a couple of pictures. The first is a picture of a module that was taken by Scott of Firefish Video and the second of the fish cleaned from that module on the cleaning table. Again, this is off of one reef module.



The problem is not a South Florida one any more. We have seen the highest densities on small, artificial structure but they are everywhere. The more we look, the more we find. The same boat that hit public numbers yesterday pulled over 150 off of the Avocet two weeks ago while my crew did the same thing in the natural bottom to the southeast.

Has anyone caught any? That would be great data to know. The dive community will be getting organized this winter to fight them so any and all help would be appreciated. Research is beginning to confirm that they are changing the environment down there a great deal. If you have private numbers, there is a good chance they look similar to this unless you have been keeping them clean.

Just wanted to keep everyone up to date. Keep tuned in, there will be more info to follow as we hit more sites. If you guys have any advice, fire away! It would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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## LivinTheDream (Apr 15, 2013)

*The lionfish problem...*

Wow...That is absolutely amazing. I wish you all the best in removing as many as you can find! Those pictures speak volumes.


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## coolbluestreak (Jun 27, 2011)

Yum, bust out the fillet knife!


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## amarcafina (Aug 24, 2008)

We need some kind of suction device to take care of our REEFS .. You will notice , no other type Fish are around !!!!


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## RogueAngler (May 12, 2009)

amarcafina said:


> You will notice , no other type Fish are around !!!!


That is an interesting point. Was there anything else around?


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## Brady Bunch (Jun 26, 2013)

Tom Hilton over here in Texas has reported Lionfish in out waters around our rigs and artificial reefs. 

This maybe a dumb question but can you send a charge down to the reef (as shown in the above pic) and blast them all at once?


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## Rickpcfl (Nov 12, 2013)

It is difficult to tell from the pictures - how big were the fish?


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## japanic (Jan 10, 2014)

Hello, I am new to the area and have been a diver for some years now and would love to acquire information about helping out with the lionfish problem. It seems a good cause and looks like it could potentially be fun to rid our reefs of them. Not to mention eating them! Any information about how one would get started with this would be greatly apprecaited!


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## Magic Mike (Jun 30, 2009)

Japanic - Here you go
http://www.mbtdivers.com/dive_sites.html

Pick a few out and go grab dinner


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

So, it is a waste of money to pay for and drop private reefs now? I was deciding which way to go: Pyramid Reef or Coops. Now, I'm thinking neither.


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## japanic (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks for the numbers page magic mike. My family is from Pensacola and I have been frequenting the town since before I can remember. I grew up fishing public wrecks offshore and in 2004 was certified through mbt. I'm sorry my question from my first post was vague. It was supposed to be more along the lines of how does one go about hunting lionfish in a safe manner. I know they have poisonous tentacles and am curious as to how I could collect a large number of them without harming myself or anyone else on the boat. I am also curious as to how someone would collect such a large number of fish over the period of one days dives. It seems that repetitively loading a spear gun wouldn't be the most efficient method? Again, I know basically nothing on this topic and am just looking to acquire a little knowledge from people in this area rather than solely relaying on Internet knowledge. Experience is valuable in my book and all I can learn before I get out there is greatly appreciated. 
Thanks!


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## FelixH (Sep 28, 2007)

Short pole spears with multiple points are ideal for the lion fish. Also, you'll need something to put them in. A heavy fabric bag, with good drainage, works well.
MBT sells some good lion slaying gear and I've seen some of the locals improvise their own solutions.


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## japanic (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks, Ill go check out what they have in the next couple days


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