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The Venomous Lionfish Proliferates In The Bahamas
Related to country: Bahamas

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Lionfish Proliferation:
By Macushla N. Pinder -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Increasing in numbers, the venomous lionfish has already reportedly spread to parts of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and as far north as the Carolinas as well as in Bermuda.

But local fisheries officials feel they may have the answer to keeping those numbers at manageable level.

Citing an article in the December issue of Dive Training magazine, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Larry Cartwright said one way to combat the lionfish might be to give it economic value as food source.The Venomous Lionfish

"In North Carolina, they are been caught in sufficient quantity such that some fishermen have started including them in boxes of mixed catch sold skinned and filleted at a discounted price," he said, quoting the article.

"Their venom does not taint the meat and those who have tasted say that lionfish are quite good like tilapia. One lionfish researcher – a sushi fan - has even sampled the roe and reports that it is very good. He jokingly suggested giving the lionfish and selling it to Japan. Actually, that might not be a bad idea."

Minister Cartwright, who was contributing to debate on two supplementary bills in the House of Assembly on Thursday, also noted that some Bahamians are apparently doing just that.

"While it seems unlikely that it will be possible to eradicate the lionfish from our waters, there are encouraging reports that some Bahamians are using the lionfish for food," Minister Cartwright said.

"This is perfectly safe as the venom is confined to the spines on the body of the lionfish and does not the body and does not occur in the flesh."

The Department of Marine Resources along with the Marine and Environmental Studies Institute of the College of the Bahamas is engaged in a programme to raise public awareness, collect reports of sightings of lionfish, conduct surveys and collect lionfish samples.An orange striped lionfish fans his colorful fins like feathers.  The lionfish, Pterois volitans, is a venomous predatory fish that is native to the Indo-Pacific and begun to populate Atlantic waters.

A native of the Indo-Pacific region, the juvenile lionfish measuring between three and four inches long – was discovered by aquarium divers on an expedition to Atlantic waters of The Bahamas several months ago.

It has been determined that there are two separate species that have invaded Bahamian waters.

During an earlier interview with the Bahama Journal, Deputy Director of Marine Resources, Eddison Deleveaux explained that there are several hypotheses as to how and why the lionfish adopted The Bahamas as home.
Lionfish have no natural predators in the Atlantic Ocean, and recent data show that lionfish are reaching sexual maturity at a younger age, said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium, so the fish could begin to proliferate in these waters.
A juvenile lionfish, which is native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, was found by divers recently off the coast of the Bahamas, a sign that the venomous fish may now be breeding in the Atlantic Ocean, according to a spokesman from the New England Aquarium.


He said there is the claim that the species came into The Bahamas during hurricanes Frances and Jeanne considering that the fish has been known to exist in Florida waters for some time.

During his contribution, Minister Cartwright also addressed the vexing issue of illegal fishing and poaching, which he admitted continues to pose a significant challenge for local fishermen.

In fact, over the years, local fishermen have been very vocal in their call for relief.

But according to Minister Cartwright, significant progress has been made with regard to diminishing the intrusion of commercial fishermen from neighboring countries in the southeast Bahamas.

"With the determined efforts of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the constant flow of information from Bahamian fishermen, there has recently been considerable success in the arrest and conviction of foreign poachers," Minister Cartwright said.

"It should be noted that recent convictions have also resulted in the confiscation of the foreign fishing vessels used in the commission of these offenses. To better equip the Department of Marine Resources to discharge its responsibility for enforcement of the Fisheries legislation and regulation inclusive of patrolling protected areas, the acquisition of additional vessels is necessary."

The Minister said to this end, a 25 ft to 30ft patrol craft equip with outboard engines will be acquired during the second half of the 2007/2008 budgetary period.


1 March 2008

March 1, 2008 | 11:18 PM Comments  0 comments

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