Be rewarded to help remove the invasive lionfish
The Lionfish Challenge began on May 18 (Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day) and runs through Sept. 2 (Labor Day). The statewide challenge is hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Reef Rangers. The goal of this challenge is to encourage and reward divers for removing the invasive lionfish from Florida’s waters.
“For the first two days of the Lionfish Challenge, we host a festival in conjunction with a tournament,” said Amanda Nalley, spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. “The tournament is called the Emerald Coast Open, but it doesn’t count toward the Lionfish Challenge. From that event alone they removed over 19,000 lionfish, so we’re really happy about that.”
“About 86 people have signed up for the lionfish challenge so far and we’re still looking to have a lot more people to sign up,” said Nalley.
Lionfish have a potentially negative impact on native wildlife and habitat and since they are non-native, they have very few natural predators. Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific but have invaded the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to harvest fish knowing that it’s helping the ecosystem,” said Sean O’Connor, a fishing charter captain for Four Leaf Charters. “Normally when you harvest fish, you don’t feel like you’re helping.”
There is a recreational category as well as a commercial category.
To participate in the recreational category, participants must harvest 25 or more lionfish, submit a photo of the harvest and submit tails after harvesting the first 25. The tails are submitted to checkpoints that are listed on their website.
To be eligible for the commercial category, participants need to have an active Saltwater Products License. Participants in this category will submit photos of electronic trip tickets which include: the harvester’s name, date of harvest and amount harvested in pounds.
There will also be prizes given to those who catch the largest lionfish and the smallest lionfish.
“The biggest one that I’ve caught for this year’s competition is about 18 inches, so I think he’s a contender for the biggest lionfish contest,” said Ron Surrency, a commercial fisherman in Duval County and the commercial champion for the 2018 Lionfish Challenge. Surrency and his crew removed 5,017 pounds of lionfish which equates to about 5,530 fish.
All participants are required to register prior to participation. The prizes range from scuba gear to up to $3,000 in cash prizes. To participate in the Lionfish Challenge, fill out the registration form on the FWC Reef Ranger’s website at fwcreefrangers.com.