Scourge Of The Lionfish Summary

Scourge of the Lionfish

The article that I have chosen to write a summary of is the “Scourge of the Lionfish” article series by Carl Safina located at The New York Times website. There are 4 parts to this article, each basically talking about the invasive species of red lionfish that have taken over the Atlantic by storm, how they are impacting the marine life around the Atlantic, and some different ways fishermen have tried to gain control over the ever increasing population of these voracious predators.

The article begins in part 1 by explaining the origin of the red lionfish’s invasion 20 years ago. They first occurred in south Florida and also the Caribbean and are spread out from a very lengthy distance as far down as north eastern

South America to the east coast of New York. Even the depths at which they swim are also spread out from rather shallow waters to the deep depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The origin of this non-native species into the Atlantic is thought it have been from fish owners who grew tired of caring for their pet lionfish and thought it a better idea to release them into the ocean instead of killing them. The numbers that were released were apparently enough to start a colony of lionfish.
Safina goes on to explain that we are already trying to be careful and are also concerned about the problem of overfishing and getting enough food for from the native fishes in the Atlantic. The lionfish is determined to make those problems even worse now that it has populated in the millions and gladly eats the fish that are important to the future of these fisheries.
After explaining the threat that the red lionfish pose on the future of native fish and fisheries, Safina gives the readers an overview about the characteristics of red lionfish. Red lionfish are originally from the West Pacific area in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The appearance of a red lionfish is striking from its long tiger-like stripes that wrap around its body and the red and white colors the accompany it. The appearance of this fish is very ornate and is much like a caution sign for other predators that come to close. The spines along its back are venomous and produces a nasty and painful non-fatal sting.
Because no native predators have ever seen a lionfish before and were not accustomed to be afraid of it, it literally has no predators. The 40 plus fish that it likes to eat do not realize it is being hunted and get caught easily. Some of these fish are very important in commercial, ecological and culinary value. Sharks and other predators also do not what to get close for the venomous spines on its back.
Another very important fact that Safina mentions is that young parrotfish and surgeon fish are a part of a red lionfish’s diet, but parrotfish and surgeonfish are algae eaters and help remove algae from reef cliffs.

The reef cliffs then serve a good establishing ground for coral polyps to grow from. If the young parrotfish and surgeonfish are in danger of such decline, that also means that coral will ultimately suffer in decline as well which is very bad for many other organisms that depend on coral reefs to strive. There are many factors contributing to the decline of coral reefs such as climate change, water acidification, overfishing, and also pollution. Red lionfish are pushing that decline at a faster pace since their population in the surrounding area and allowing these corals to get smothered with uneaten algae and

seaweed.
Safina mentions his visit to Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas to meet with Professor Mark Hixon from the Oregon State University. Hixon researches and observes the effects that lionfish have on native reef fishes and explains that the diversity of fishes in a nearby reef were low and noticed there were many lionfish in the surrounding area. After the removal of many of the lionfishes, they went back and could tell that the diversity of fishes around the reef had increased. Hixon explained that probably the most beneficial way to get rid of the lionfish was to kill them or collect them one by one in order to restore the diversity of the area. He also mentions that there are actually people beginning to organize spear-fishing groups to purge the lionfish in selected areas. Others are trying to popularize the idea of cooking and eating the red lionfish as another way to get rid of them.
In part 2 of the article, Safina tells us of his trip to Palm Beach Florida to get a glimpse of the lionfish derby that would be going on.

The point of the lionfish derby was to shoot lionfish for cash prizes. The prizes ranged from $1,000 for the largest amount of fish shot and $500 prizes for the largest and smallest lionfish shot. There were also $1 prizes for each fish caught. With a handful of boats sailing into the ocean, Safina explains the roughness of the Gulf Stream current and how it was difficult to spear lionfish compared to the locals who had better experience with where the red lionfish were located and managed to spear 1,000 fish in the hunt. Safina reminds the reader that the derby was helpful for the native-fish in those local reef populations and made for a delicious feast, but the lionfish are unfortunately still a big

problem.
Part 3 of “Scourge of the Lionfish” gets into detail about the commercialization of the red lionfish and how the plethora of red lionfish are giving fishermen and opportunity to make some money from this new fish hitting the market.
Safina recounts his trip to Puerto Morelos in Mexico with his friend, David Johnson and crew to observe the catching process of the red lionfish that lived in over 100ft deep of water. He explained how dangerous it was to find and spear the lionfish because of the rough current and the risks of diving so far under the water. Two snorkelers had to battle the current to keep an eye on the fisherman spearing fish in the depths to make sure everything was ok while the boat driver watched out for the snorkelers. In a long 30 mins, only $20 worth of red lionfish were caught while having the lives of those fishermen put in danger from the pressure of the depths and the venomous spines.
Apparently, as of now, scuba diving and spear fishing is the only way to kill the lionfish in a productive manner, although it really is not proving to control the population all that much as their lifestyle habits manage to make it even more difficult to capture. For example, they tend to stay in groups to hide in crevices and holes in the reefs making it hard for fishermen to find them easily in the day time.
In part 4 of the article, Safina concludes what he has learned and experienced about the red lionfish. They are most definitely a force to be reckoned with. Lionfish, combined with the problem of overfishing are killing the native fish very quickly, and so far the techniques used to control lionfish populations still has not been enough to help. He recommends that instead of overfishing and eating fish such as groupers, snappers, and sea basses that are already being overfished that we should instead go for the red lionfish.