Image by Peter Liu Photography
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has recently approved a novel and innovative fisheries management plan to eradicate invasive lionfish: Reward the citizens that kill them.
The plan hopes to generate public interest by offering fishermen and divers rewards for every lionfish they kill. Those that participate get an event T-shirt, a commemorate coin, and are entered into drawings to win a plethora of fishing and diving goodies.
Image by Florida Fish and Wildlife
The person that checks in the most lionfish during a certain time period will receive, among other things, a lifetime saltwater fishing license, a mention in a FWC official meeting, and his or her photo on the cover of a popular FWC publication.
FWC Chairman Brian Yablonski stated, “Those that remove lionfish not only get rewarded for their efforts, but they also get the experience of helping manage Florida’s fisheries. In addition, involving Florida’s residents and visitors helps us gather better data to continuously evaluate and improve our approach to invasive species control.”
Image by Oregon State University
Lionfish are assumed to have initially been dumped from aquariums into the Atlantic, and are now wreaking havoc on native ecosystems. They have few natural predators and are multiplying at an alarming rate, their numbers now too large to manage using conventional methods.
Fishermen and divers can click here join the FWC Lionfish Control team!
Image by Tombako
The results of the 2019 contest saw first place go to the Lionfish King: Ken Ayers of Bay County, who removed 1,194 fish.
Watch this video by National Geographic from a few years ago to learn more:
