Every ecosystem in every corner of the world has to be equally balanced between predator and prey. An imbalance occurs when a predator becomes too numerous and too powerful, or a disease kills off too much prey. When a species becomes
invasive, i.e., it is living and hunting in an area of the globe where it shouldn’t be, then that ecosystem is also imbalanced and threatened.
The predatory lionfish has become that big of a problem. Professional divers, like Roger J. Muller, Jr., are getting involved. Here is why the lionfish is such a problem, and how its numbers are being reduced to return balance to ocean ecosystems.
Divers Recording Numbers and Locations
Lionfish are covered with dozens of toxic spines. With the exception of humans and a couple of predators that eat lionfish, nothing else can kill these things without coming to harm in the process. Divers are uniting and encouraging each other to record where the lionfish invasion has created large numbers, and hunt them if they are licensed to do so. The lionfish is very territorial. Recording where the lionfish invasions are and hunting them in those areas will help remove the lionfish where it is not supposed to be swimming and hunting.
Eating or Relocating the Lionfish
It is possible to eat lionfish if you take the captured fish into a chef that knows how to prepare them. Otherwise, the fish are relocated to their natural tropical habitats. Others are destroyed where their numbers have become too populous. If you are a licensed/certified diver, and you would like to help with this project, contact http://lionfishdivers.com/
