9-29-12

Lionfish Harvest Round-Up

In an effort to combat the invasive lionfish epidemic, TISIRI and Offshore Dive Charters continue to execute lionfish round up events. Our most recent effort included fifteen divers visiting three different reefs offshore Jacksonville Florida. The goal of the event was to capture as many lionfish as safely possible. Awards were granted to lionfish harvesters in several different categories. See picture of the harvest efforts below:

A brief video clip showing how simple it is to actually cature the invasive lionfish:

North Florida artificial reefs visited include the Casa Blanca, the BR ferry, and the Spike tender. Each reef was relatively deep averaging around 110 feet. Lionfish hunters ran out of no decompression time limits before they could harvest as many lionfish as they wanted. Unfortunately even though many lionfish were harvested from each reef site, many lionfish remained.

By the end of the day well over 100 lionfish had been removed from the ocean. All lionfish harvested were cleaned and prepared into healthy, tasty meals. We will continue lionfish harvest events as long as the weather is favorable. Contact TISIRI if interested in participating in the next round-up.

See the video story of a previous lionfish round-up by clicking here...