|
Since everyone who dives in Bonaire has to go through an orientation/bouyancy control check with the Bonaire National Marine Park I would say ask them what they want you to do.
Bonaire Dive Orientation
If you are planning a trip to Bonaire that includes diving, you will be required to attend a Bonaire National Marine Park Orientation/Briefing prior to your first dive on the island.
|
|
|
From RockRat2008: ...If you are planning a trip to Bonaire that includes diving, you will be required to attend a Bonaire National Marine Park Orientation/Briefing prior to your first dive on the island.
Yes, we went through that orientation prior to diving. They handed out a bunch of yellow plastic streamers which divers would attach to the reef when a Lionfish was found, then you notify the Marine Park Rangers of the location of that marker. The problem is that at some dives sites, you’d come across a dozen of these markers, and nearby would be a Lionfish, some of the markers had algae growing on them, so they were in there for quite some time. That’s what made me wonder if I should just kill the Lionfish right then & there and get it off the reef. I didn’t do anything to the fish, but just kept wondering if I should have.
|
|
|
|
The disturbing thing about the Lionfish in the Caribbean is the size they were! I’ve seen Lionfish in Fiji and Palau, they were never bigger than 3 to 4 inches long, but in Grand Turk they were HUGE!!! Some as long as 8 to 10 inches and really FAT!!! They were the size of Scorpionfish!!!
|
|
|
|
From Aikidiver: Some as long as 8 to 10 inches and really FAT!!! They were the size of Scorpionfish!!!
WOW! That’s crazy! I agree personally that killing them onsite is the best option, but don’t know what the repercussions would be if you were caught actually killing one?
|
|
|
Ditto, many of the Atlantic Lionfish are huge, bigger than anyones I’ve seen in the Pacific because the Atlantic tropicals haven’t learned to flee the pretty fish :(
The problem with letting anyone spear is if they miss the fish learns to hide when spearos approach, somewhere I have a picture from NC of a fish hiding from a spearo right next to a photographer, they know the difference!
|
|
|
|
...it’s weird, they seem to know that you won’t do anything to them! After finding one in Bonaire, as a joke I picked up a big rock and held it right over one sitting on the reef, just trying to see what reaction I’d get from my dive buddy John, he just laughed, but the fish just sat there, didn’t even flinch! I put the rock down and we just left it alone! But I could easily have just dropped the rock and that fish would have been a gonner!
|
|
|
I am so tired listening to all the people that whine about invasive species. If you want to get right down to it, the white man in America is an invasive species. It’s evolution people. From a short term point of view, yes, it’s a horrible thing. But if you take a global, long term view, then you know that nature will reach equilibrium over time. It’s survival of the fittest and it’s been going on for millions of years. Rather then worrying about how to get rid of it, why don’t we just learn to adapt and all get along with each other? The mere fact that we have begun to see so many Lionfish indicates that they have already reached a threshold population and eradication is now impossible. It’s the same story with the iguanas and pythons in Florida. There are simply too many numbers now for us to be of any consequence.
|
|
|
Bonaire allows and encouages the taking of Lionfish. No longer do they ask you to mark the spot for someone else to come back and catch the fish.
I agree with "uwlove4u". It’s to late to try to eradicate. When man starts that kind of action it always end ups with unintended results.
It’s true too that Lionfish are learning to hide and run from humans. You will find that most of the larger Lionfish are deeper where divers do not go.
|
|
|
|
|
|
From uwlover4u: ...I am so tired listening to all the people that whine about invasive species... (followed by derogatory racial generalization)
Dude, I’m not whining about an invasive species, but I am worried about a coral reef I love to dive going from this:
...to this:
...and if all the reefs start looking like this in the Caribbean, NOBODY will bother to dive there anymore!
....we might NOT be able to eradicate them completely, but we can knock off the ones that are wiping out the small fishes at the reefs regularly dived. Hopefully that will help out some! ...end of my whine! ;^)
|
|