Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Emerald Coast Open Ends With Record-Breaking Numbers

May 23, 2019 — This year’s Emerald Coast Open was a record-breaker with nearly 20,000 lionfish removed from the water in Okaloosa County.

The annual fishing tournament aims to reduce the number of lionfish from the Gulf of Mexico where they pose a threat to native marine life.

During the pre-tournament competition, which began Feb.1, lionfish hunters removed 5,048 of the invasive species.  Another 14,119 were removed during the main event last weekend, bringing the grand total to 19,167. The tournament had a total of 189 individual hunters from across the United States and Caribbean.

“Last year’s total was 9,000,” said Brady Hale, marketing coordinator for the Emerald Coast Open. “We had a big jump in numbers and we almost doubled in participation.”

The winning team, Florida Man, finished the tournament with 2,241 lionfish earning the $10,000 grand prize. Captain Josh Livingston said he had been hunting lionfish for the past five years. He’s also working with the University of Florida on deploying lionfish traps in the Gulf.

“There’s a lot of prep work — understanding where the fish are at, looking for trends and creating a solid game plan,” he explained.

While there were cash prizes at stake, lionfish removal is more about conservation than competition. For the past 30 years, the non-native species have invaded the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean reducing fish populations at a rapid rate.

“They can eat 30 to 40 fish per hour, they’re prolific breeders and they have no predators…it’s a trifecta of bad,” Hale said.

Another concern is the local commercial and recreational fishing industry, especially in Destin which has the largest commercial fishing fleet in the state.

“There are hundreds of boats that go out — one lionfish can really take out a population of fish,” Hale said. “In the early 2000s, the Bahamas lost up to 80% of fish diversity (to lionfish). People aren’t going to come here and pay to fish red snapper if there’s none left.”

Read the full story at WUWF

FLORIDA: Lionfish are still a problem, and FWC will give you a reward to remove them

May 17, 2019 — Lurking below off of Florida’s coast is the lionfish, a species that is both appetizing and intrusive, and wildlife officials want to remove as many of them as possible.

The lionfish is not native to the Sunshine State and are categorized as an invasion species that negatively impacts Florida’s native species. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is encouraging divers, anglers and commercial harvesters to help remove them from Florida’s waters.

Starting Saturday, May 18, FWC will reward those who catch lionfish with harvesting gear or cash prizes. The Lionfish Challenge ends on September 2. Those who submit 25 lionfish or 25 pounds of lionfish can qualify for prizes.

Read the full story at Fox 13

Lionfish invasion in the Gulf of Mexico expected to worsen as the climate changes

November 15, 2018 — Scientists desperately trying to combat coral reef deaths 100 miles off the coast of Galveston caused by warming ocean waters might now have another climate change-related problem to battle in the coming decades: the hostile takeover of the zebra-striped lionfish.

Lionfish — brought to the U.S. from their Indo-Pacific home to stock aquariums and later dumped by owners unable to care for the constantly hungry vertebrate — have no known North American predators to stop their spread. As a consequence, they’ve been decimating reef populations from New York to Florida since the 1980s, arriving at the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in 2011.

A recent study published in the Wilderness & Environmental Medicine journal suggests that venomous creatures like lionfish will become more prevalent as the oceans warm.

Lionfish “are the cockroaches of the sea,” said Michelle Johnston, a sanctuary research biologist. “They reproduce every four days and every four days they can release up to 50,000 eggs. Plus, nothing really eats them, they have venomous spines and the native fish are terrified of them.”

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle

The Invasice Venomous Lionfish is Killing Atlantic Reefs. So Please Eat It.

October 24, 2018 — KEY LARGO, Fla. — What do you do with an invasive fish, covered from head to fin with venomous spines as sharp as hypodermic needles; a fish that can’t be caught with a rod or in a trawling net as it multiplies rapidly, deep in our oceans, flummoxing fishermen and scientists alike?

Conservationists are hoping you eat it.

The Indo-Pacific native lionfish arrived in the Atlantic about a decade ago, the product of well-meaning aquarium owners who released their charges into the ocean, not realizing they reproduce at an alarming rate, prey on more than 70 species of fish and hasten the dying-off of any coral reef they alight on. Scientists describe their invasion into Florida’s waters in the same words noted Key West fisherman Ernest Hemingway used to describe the onset of bankruptcy: slowly, and then all at once. Now estimated to number as many as 1,000 fish per acre, lionfish also have no known predators — except humans.

Read the full story at Vice News

 

NMFS greenlights experimental lionfish trap fishing

July 13, 2018 — Fishermen in the South Atlantic might soon be testing a new tool to fight off the growing population of invasive lionfish in the region. After years of waiting, NMFS is finally giving the green light on a permit to set out 100 cages to study whether traps can put a dent in their numbers.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission applied for the exempted fishing permit, proposing to test various modifications to wire spiny lobster traps to harvest lionfish from South Atlantic federal waters.

The study intends to examine the effectiveness and performance of modified trap designs for capturing lionfish, with the goal of identifying the best modification to maximize lionfish catch and reduce bycatch of other species. Traps would test various funnel and escape gap sizes and locations, in addition to bait types.

The Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association proposed the idea back in 2015 after they discovered their spiny lobster traps were being overrun by lionfish. But the group withdrew its application earlier this year after losing financial backing for the project because of the long delays in waiting for approval.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Lionfish trapping may one day help South Carolina against ocean predator

July 6, 2018 — A garden full of poisonous, stinging lionfish — that’s what one diver said he found on the bottom offshore South Carolina.

The predators are taking over by the thousands, killing off snappers, groupers and other valued fish catches.

Traps to cut their numbers were first proposed three years ago. Now, literally billions of laid lionfish eggs later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is about to give the go-ahead on a permit to set out 100 cages to study whether the traps can put a dent in their numbers.

None of the traps will be off South Carolina, where the original proposal called for some. But the study is at least a first step to maybe slowing down a fish that veteran Florida Keys trap fisherman Bill Kelly calls “the most aggressive invasive species that we’ll see in my lifetime.”

The lionfish is a seductively beautiful scorpion fish. It’s so colorfully camouflaged that it blends almost invisibly into the coral, like a rattlesnake blends into brush.

Read the full story at the Post and Courier

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on an Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit to Test Traps Targeting Lionfish in South Atlantic Federal Waters

July 3, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries is accepting comments on an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The applicant proposes to test various modifications to wire spiny lobster traps to harvest lionfish from South Atlantic federal waters. This study intends to examine the effectiveness and performance of modified trap designs for capturing lionfish, with the goal of identifying the best modification to maximize lionfish catch and reduce bycatch of other species. The activities would also derive biological life history information to improve lionfish control.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

  • Sampling would occur in depths from 100-300 feet between Alligator Reef to Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys, approximately twice per month over the course of a year, for the duration of the EFP.
  • Traps would test various funnel and escape gap sizes and locations, in addition to bait types.
  • Vessels would deploy no more than 100 traps in the water at any given time and soak times would vary, but not exceed 21 days per deployment.
  • Bait could include live lionfish, plastic decoy lionfish, artificial lures, fish oil, and fish heads.
  • Data to be collected per trip would include: gear configuration and fishing effort data (e.g., date and time of deployment and retrieval, latitude, longitude, and water depth of each deployed trawl, bait type used); soak time for each trawl; trap loss and movement from original set position; protected species interactions; bycatch species, amount, length, and disposition; and lionfish catch data for each trap type.

NOAA Fisheries finds this application warrants further consideration, and is seeking public comment on the application. A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on NOAA Fisheries’ review of public comments received, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils’ recommendations, consultations with the affected states, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it is consistent with all applicable laws.

HOW TO COMMENT ON THE APPLICATION:
The comment period is open now through August 1, 2018. You may submit comments by electronic submission or by postal mail. Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

Application information:
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/LOA_and_EFP/2018/Lionfish/Lionfish%20EFP.html.

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the e-Rulemaking portal.

1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0068.
2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
3. Enter or attach your comments.

Mail: Submit written comments to Frank Helies, NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Florida: Lionfish invasion spreads to Pensacola rivers, strengthens roundup’s mission

May 16, 2018 — Organizers of an upcoming lionfish roundup hope to collect thousands of the invasive and venomous predators, which are now being found in rivers and estuaries outside of the Gulf of Mexico.

Local environmental groups, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and divers from throughout the Panhandle region will gather at the Flora-Bama Ole River Grill and Yacht Club in Perdido Key on Friday and Saturday for the annual Lionfish Removal Festival and Tournament.

Event organizer Brian Asher said the annual lionfish roundup is the largest such event anywhere in the world. Asher said the goal of the festival is to harvest more than 15,000 lionfish from local waters during the two-day event.

Read the full story at the Tallahassee Democrat

 

NOAA Pilot Program Extends Snapper Season In Gulf of Mexico

April 27, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The fisheries management folks have finally thrown a bone to recreational anglers targeting American red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. The Feds at NOAA Fisheries has granted the Gulf states a two-year pilot management option allowing state management agencies the leeway to establish their own harvest guidelines in both state and federal zones.

The program, aka the “exempted fishing permit” gives Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission the right to manage the whole snapper enchilada for two years and they have established a 40-day recreational harvest to begin on June 11 and run through July 21. After years of ridiculously short open seasons, this is really a big deal for recreational anglers to get their fair share of the pie. It also shows that the feds have finally owned up to the fact that in some areas of the Gulf states, American reds are not a factor in state waters, the Gulf Coast south of the big bend, including the Suncoast, being one of them.

The exempted fishing permit does not apply to commercial harvesters or for-hire (charter) operations with valid federal reef permits. Those for-hire vessels have a separate harvest season that roughly runs concurrently with the new recreational regulation.

2018 Lionfish Challenge

The 2018 Lionfish Challenge kicks off on May 19 and will continue through to Sept. 3. The opener coincides with Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day on May 19. Both spear fishers and hook-and-liners can register to participate by going to MyFWC.com/Lionfish.

This year there will be tagged lionfish released that when brought in can garner participants up to $5,000 in cash prizes. Many non-cash prizes such as GoPro Cams, Engel Cooler products, Turtle Skin Gloves and more, are up for grabs.

The non-native and invasive lionfish have become a huge problem in Florida waters as they feed primarily on the fry of our most valued reef species as groupers and snappers. Any effort to cut down on this gluttonous invader should be encouraged. Their extremely good table value should help but must be handled with caution due to venomous spines. The venom is not life threatening but if you get stuck you would wish you hadn’t woke up that morning.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.

 

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments for an Application for an Exempted Fishing Permit to Test Trap Targeting of Lionfish in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Federal Waters

March 16, 2018 — The following was release by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries is accepting comments on an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) from Salty Bones Fisheries. The applicant proposes to test various spiny lobster traps and a fish aggregation device based, non-containment purse trap to harvest lionfish from in Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and South Atlantic federal waters. Sampling is proposed to occur during the spiny lobster closed season (April 1 through July 31). This study intends to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the various trap designs for targeting lionfish while limiting bycatch, and adverse effects to protected species and habitat. The research would also derive biological life history information to improve lionfish control. In addition, the project would provide information on potential ecological and economic benefits of a lionfish fishery. These results provide the opportunity to gain industry support and provide management information on the use of traps as a viable lionfish harvest gear in the Gulf and South Atlantic. Only lionfish would be harvested under this EFP.

HOW TO COMMENT ON THE APPLICATIONS:
The comment period is open now through April 2, 2018. You may submit comments by electronic submission or by postal mail. Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

Application information: 

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/LOA_and_EFP/index.html

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

  1. Go to  https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0013 
  2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
  3. Enter or attach your comments.

Mail: Submit written comments to Kelli O’Donnell, NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Program Concepts

  • Sampling would occur in two regions off the lower Florida Keys in the Gulf and South Atlantic, up to four times per month in each region during the Florida spiny lobster closed season, April 1 through July 31.
  • Spiny lobster trap designs would include all wire traps, in addition to wood and wire traps.  In year 1 and 2 1,000 of each design in the Gulf and 500 of each design in the South Atlantic, would be deployed for a total of up to 3,000 total traps. All traps would have modified funnel dimensions and would be deployed at depths from 65-300 ft.
  • Vessels would also deploy up to 15 purse traps in year 1 (all 15 could be fished in Gulf or South Atlantic or the 15 could be divided between the two regions) and up to 120 total in year 2 (80 in Gulf and 40 in South Atlantic). All traps would be deployed at depths from 65-300 ft.
  • Data to be collected per trip would include: gear configuration and fishing effort data (e.g., date and time of deployment and retrieval, latitude, longitude, and water depth of each deployed trawl, bait type used); soak time per area for each trawl; alternative weight and trawl configurations used in different sea states and conditions; trap loss and movement from original set position; protected species interactions; bycatch species, amount, and disposition; and lionfish catch data for each trap type.
  • Only lionfish would be harvested.

NOAA Fisheries finds this application warrants further consideration, and is seeking public comment on the application. A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on NOAA Fisheries’ review of public comments received, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommendations, consultations with the affected states, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it is consistent with all applicable laws.

Access this and other Fishery Bulletins from NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office by clicking here.