Saving Seafood

Lionfish Removal Effort Ramps Up: Florida Incentivizes Anglers to Help Target Invasive Species

April 22, 2016 — They’re the beauties with the beastly reputation—one so unwelcome that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has launched a new incentive program aimed at their eradication.

We’re talking about lionfish, those ornately designed invasives of aquarium origin that have overrun reefs throughout Florida’s coast. Exploding in numbers, lions compete with native species and upset local ecosystems.

You’d think that all the grouper, sharks, and barracuda would appreciate the additional forage, but lionfish pack a set of poisonous spines that warn would-be diners to back off.

So, that leaves humans to handle the task of eradicating these fish, or at least controlling their numbers. And that’s the idea behind the FWC’s 2016 lionfish removal program highlighted by a Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day on May 16.

Read the full story at Outdoor Life

FLORIDA: Fish Poisoning More Common Than Believed

June 30, 2015 — Poisonings from a toxin carried by barracuda and other sport fish have been seriously underestimated in Florida, according to a new study — and the problem is far more common in fishing communities around the world than has been recognized, the lead author said.

In Florida, poisonings from the ciguatera toxin were highest among Hispanics, presumably because they are more fond of eating barracuda, according to the study, which was published this week in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Ciguatera (pronounced sig-WAH-terra) is produced by algae that grow in warm water, and there is a risk of it spreading north as ocean waters warm, said Elizabeth G. Radke, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute and the lead author of the study.

Read the full story at the New York Times