somebody needs to make sure that the fishery folks who make the decisions to close bottom fishing areas get a clear picture of whats causing the problems. there is a lionfish explosion going on and they are said to be able to clean out a reef quickly. they are pretty thick offshore right now… perhaps a bounty would be possible? there have been studies that show that they don’t repopulate area once they have been removed. Killing=removal… i’m not sure who the local reps are and they probably know of the issue… perhaps not the severity of the population growth of the invasive fish. just thought that i would share… if i can help let me know.
Russ
i guess this should have been posted in discussion… not that its getting in the way of an offshore report with this wx… if somebody wants to move it thats cool…
groupers eat lion fish.If they let all the groupers go free and unharmed they have better chance of eating more lion fish.maybe that’s whats pushing the closure.
Interesting, Did not know Anything ate that dang porcupine
Grouper DON’T eat Lionfish. That is the problem. Grouper CAN eat Lionfish, but it’s definitely not in their “natural” list of prey. There is a spearfishing group in West Palm that does some “Lionfish Slams” and they are even killing them, cutting them up, and hand feeding them to grouper with little success. I am working on organizing a slam for Charleston, and I offer a 5% per fish (up to 30%) discount at my dive shop. I kill every one I see. Thats the best we can do for now.
The explosion is widespread throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean.We need to kill them all, and I support vmdupuis. http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/30/1176706.aspx
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quote:
Originally posted by vmdupuisI offer a 5% per fish (up to 30%) discount at my dive shop.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>I like this!! I assume you want us to bring them in for proof. Should not be a problem. This apply to air fills too?
Wish we could get some of the local tackle shops to do the same with barracudas!
If you can’t fix it with a hammer, you’ve got an electrical problem.
quote:
Originally posted by Scoutin 4 Goodiesquote:
Originally posted by vmdupuisI offer a 5% per fish (up to 30%) discount at my dive shop.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>I like this!! I assume you want us to bring them in for proof. Should not be a problem. This apply to air fills too?
Wish we could get some of the local tackle shops to do the same with barracudas!
If you can’t fix it with a hammer, you’ve got an electrical problem.
Barracudas you just need to gaff and release
26’ Twinvee
Suzuki 175’s
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Grouper do not eat lion fish…Lionfish are waaay too slow and would be an easy meal …but the grouper leaves them alone. Lionfish around here need killin in a bad way.
19 foot Seaking CC 140 Johnson
so I take it Lion fish are kind of like bowfin bass. Only Lion fish are imported where as mudfish are native. Both seem to be a pain in the arse. Now mudfish are really pretty good table fair, wounder if the same is true for lion fish? Maybe they can become the next exotic seafood craze.
If that happened someone would come out with a report that mercury levels are so high that eating more than one a month will kill your next born child. Yep Lion Fish are high in mercury.
they are good to eat,no fun to clean
quote:Scientists have discovered medieval armor, license plates, and old tires in the stomach of TIGER SHARKS. HEY!!! Maybe that's what happened to all of king aurthurs knights!!! That being said, I sure am glad that most of the interstates are well away from the beach.
Originally posted by Bolbiegroupers eat lion fish.If they let all the groupers go free and unharmed they have better chance of eating more lion fish.maybe that’s whats pushing the closure.
Groupers may not eat lionfish, but it’s a know fact lionfish EAT BABY GROUPER!!! In this case, the concept is VERY simple. If that’s truly the motivating factor behind SAFMC, then they need to be removed now.
I see it as the ability to crush your opponent.There are not many lion fish compared to grouper,simply cause they have not been around nearly as long.If you give the groupers a break from, spearing the biggest ones, to live baiting with an electric reel,perhaps they will in fact rebound to incredible numbers and size.Lion fish will not stand a chance.
I catch juvenile groupers in the creek while shrimping,and around a certain old dock…you tell me lion fish come in there and eat…c’mon dude.
Bolbie, all I ask is that you read this one summary… It will only take you about 3 minutes. Notice the SOURCE (SAFMC). Notice the DATE (1998). Notice the opening paragraph!!!
http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Library/MPAs%20Source%20Documents/ActionPlan498.pdf
Do you know what the word “Action Plan” means? It’s synonymous to “Plan of Action”…
Do me a favor and count the number of the times the word “lionfish” shows up in this document. I’ll give you a hint. It’s ZERO!!! You might want to check out the opening statements though:
“The suggestion to consider use of Marine Fishery Reserves within the snapper grouper fishery management plan first originated within the Council’s Snapper Grouper Plan Development Team (PDT). This technical group prepared a report entitled “The Potential of Marine Fishery Reserves for Reef Fish Management in the U.S. Southern Atlantic” (Attachment 2). The PDT offered this approach because it kept surfacing as the only viable option for maintaining the size/age/genetic structure of slow growing, long-lived species over the long-term. The PDT recognized the difficulties in proposing marine reserves but had no other viable option.”
Boble, this is a NO BRAINER!!! This is 100%, absolute PROOF that the SAFMC has had the “Marine Reserves”, (AKA - “Marine Protected Areas” on the agenda for AT LEAST 12 years and that they find.
Again, “only viable option for maintaining the size/age/genetic structure of slow growing, long-lived species over the long-term”… Does that message not ring LOUD AS A BELL to you?
quote:Yet you don't see ANY connection to the decline in oyster beds being a more pressing issue? Your thought process is interesting to say the least...
Originally posted by BolbieI catch juvenile groupers in the creek while shrimping,and around a certain old dock…you tell me lion fish come in there and eat…c’mon dude.
Grouper do not SPAWN inshore. They spawn on the continental shelf which gives them about a 50nm run to inshore grounds getting picked off by the lionfish on the way. All I ask is you do a little more research before you come up with a theory.
Again, there is a ton of documentation that shows that these “large grouper” (males) which you speak of are most found in deeper waters along the shelf edge which is deeper than 99% of diving activity.
And what makes you think that grouper will even think about eating the lionfish? When they close off 33,000 square miles, whatever happens to big grouper will also happen to red porgies, black seabass, vermillions, grunts, cigar minnows, etc. If indeed the population of these other fish DO skyrocket, then the grouper will also have other species to choose from. In that scenario, both grouper and lionfish would be apex predators and would both be eating on the same thing…
Not only that, but there has been NO TIME IN HISTORY that something has happened as you speak of. There has been NO TIME IN HISTORY where a fish turned to eating something that wasn’t on it’s list of natural prey to begin with to the point of extinction. Heck, before man came along, they couldn’t have even eaten their natural forage to extinction.
As a matter of fact, the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you speak of would happen… Let’s pretend that grouper are “children” and that live bottom is really a “trick or treat bucket” left out on someone’s doorstep with the sign that says, “We’re not home, please take only one”… Tootsie rolls and m&m’s are the natural forage and lionfish are the “bit-o-honey’s” that no child likes to eat (but maybe one will taste it once in a while out of curiosity and you can find in his stomach contents). You keep throwing as much candy in this bucket as you can until every last kid in the neighborhood is eating out of it. What do you think you will be left with at the end Bolbie? A large bucket full of NOTHING EXCEPT what the kids dont’ want to eat. You will have a large bucket of “bit-o-honey’s” (lionfish) and once the children realize that their natural selected food source is no longer there, they will move on to the next neighborhood.
ALL ANIMAL SPECIES FOLLOW THIS PATTERN… You are a deer hunter. Go ahead and replace your soybean fields with Kudzu and see if the deer stay around to eat up all of you kudzu. Please lead by example.
I guess we will really see what will happen in time.
quote:That's what Europe said about Hitler.
Originally posted by BolbieI guess we will really see what will happen in time.