lion fish invasion in puerto rico

[baldomero]

wow today i went to the beach and snorkeled 4 feet of water saw a 2 inch lion and scooped em up for my tank .i just didnt know they were so close i thought they were out in deep water.the water police told me they were paying 3 dollars for each lionfish caught

[reefergeorge]

Must be nice!!
The LF is the fish that got me into the hobby. One of these days I will have a tank set up around a pair of them.

[Qtip760]

Awesome. It would be fun to live some where you can catch your own fish. I lived in Hawaii for a short period of time when I was about 11-12 yo, and fishing off a dock one day I caught a porcupine puffer that was the size of a volley ball.

[phil519]

to the above two posters:

Lionfish are an alien, invasive species in the atlantic. The reason why the OP was offerred a $3 reward is because it is a huge issue with the ecology in the Atlantic.

In fact some people believe that hobbyists are responsible for the release of pet-fish into the wild where they should not be. (Of course it can never be proven how the lionfish ever got into the atlantic - hurricane or pet-release).

Anyways - i know it may seem "nice" but catching a lionfish in PR is horrible. The sad thing is I don't know if we will ever fully rid the atlantic of the pest.

Please don't take this as me trying to "talk-down" to you - just wanted people who read this thread to know that lionfish do NOT belong in the atlantic.

To the OP - you can report your sighting to NOAA. Not sure if they are still tracking them.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/stories/lionfish/

[baldomero]

yeah they are still being tracked.they are a very big problem out here in puerto rico between the 3 guys i buy fish from i must of seen them catch more than 300 this year all sizes and they sell like hotcakes.before the invasion supposedly it was illegal to bring lionfish into puerto rico for aquarium use.

[reefergeorge]

Then send some my way.
If you want to see a fish problem, come up here to Missouri. The Asian carp is in every river around us. They'll jump right in the boat for you. :)

[baldomero]

i feel ya reefergeorge lions out in the states go for atleast depending on the size $100 or more

[Jstdv8]

actually the lions are coming into the US from the other direction. They are also invading the st. lawrence seaway.
The species there is one of the most awesome looking fish you will ever see. pearly white and pink in color. too bad they eat all the salmon fry

[zachfishman]

We've got 'em in Ft. Lauderdale.