If you’re planning a visit to St. John soon, you’re likely looking forward to days spent at the beach, soaking up the sun and swimming in the famous, electric blue Caribbean water. If you’re looking forward to venturing beneath the surface to admire St. John’s colorful reefs, make sure to keep an eye out for the invasive red lionfish. A growing threat in the Virgin Islands, lionfish are causing significant damage to coral reefs and native reef fish. By learning how to identify and report sightings, you can contribute to CORE (Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education) Foundation’s conservation efforts.
The well-known phrase, “looks can be deceiving” comes to mind when I think of the lionfish, a beautiful yet venomous fish that is wreaking havoc on coral reefs and fragile marine ecosystems around the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. With eye-catching red, brown and white stripes and 18 venomous spines, lionfish have an unusual and distinct appearance.
Native to the Indo-Pacific, lionfish were a popular aquarium fish in the 1980s. Aquarium trades can sometimes disrupt native habitats, as non-native fish can be unintentionally released into waters where they don’t belong. An example is when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992 and a marine aquarium was destroyed, causing six of their lionfish to inadvertently be freed into Biscayne Bay.
Since then, NOAA has documented sightings along the US East Coast starting in 2001. By 2008, there was a 700% population boom along the East Coast and Caribbean. Their explosive growth is a result of their intense reproductive cycle – female lionfish can reproduce as many as 15,000 eggs every 3-4 days, year round. Their rapid spread has caused a huge threat to native reef fish and the coral reefs they inhabit.
In an interview, the President of CORE explained the urgency of managing lionfish populations:
“Lionfish can strip a good-sized reef of native reef fish, many of which are vitally important algae grazers. When the algae grazers are removed from the environmental equation, algae will smother living coral reefs to the point of mortality. Coral Reefs provide food, and habitat, reduce coastal erosion, and provide a base for a tourism industry to thrive,” said Frank Cummings, President of CORE Foundation
Their presence is also devastating to the commercial fishing industry in the Caribbean because lionfish prey on juvenile snapper, grouper, and crustaceans such as lobster and crab.
Although there is a serious threat, there is hope! The CORE (Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education) Foundation, a local environmental conservation organization, is working hard to manage lionfish populations by teaching divers how to remove them from the reefs.
The CORE Foundation’s mission is to “inspire communities to be better stewards of the environment through marine awareness education and hands-on coastal programs.” Their initiatives include invasive species management, coral restoration projects (check out their coral nursery project in Leinster Bay), and marine education and outreach.
In response to the rising number of lionfish sightings, CORE developed the Caribbean Lionfish Response Program in 2009. This program promotes public awareness through education outreach and provides search and removal dive training. Also, an Invasive Species Response Network was established throughout the USVI, BVI, and Puerto Rico.
Community involvement has been essential to the success of the Caribbean Lionfish Response Program. The more people who are aware of the threat, the more sightings can be documented, and lionfish removed.
As Frank Cummings, president of the CORE Foundation, noted, “Having operated a Snuba beginner dive franchise for 36 years, we have seen the coral reefs degrade from a myriad of sources. Global warming and water turbidity/quality are such large-scale issues that the lionfish situation seemed to be something a well-organized community organization could, to a large extent, control.”
CORE’s website also highlighted local efforts: “Some U.S.V.I. fishermen pull 100,000+ lionfish a year. This, along with other response groups and individuals, assists significantly with the overall positive effect of an invasive species management system.”
And here: “70% of the sightings that come into the Caribbean Lionfish Response Network have been from marine users outside of the CORE Foundation’s CLRP.”
The Invasive Lionfish Sighting Network provides the public with a Facebook page, sighting hotline and a dedicated webpage to report lionfish sightings. CORE dive directors have dedicated hotline phones, ensuring they are notified immediately when sightings are reported.
If you’re interested in joining a CORE-sponsored lionfish hunt or becoming a certified lionfish removal diver, you can find more information here. Just be sure not to touch or handle lionfish without proper training—their venomous spines can cause serious injury.
Even though lionfish are posing a massive threat to the Caribbean, fishermen, residents, and many organizations like CORE are working hard to manage their population rise. It’s encouraging to see so many people come together to manage the lionfish population, like at the 1st Annual Lionfish Derby, and to know that a difference can be made. As you explore the beautiful reefs of St. John, be sure to keep an eye out for lionfish. By reporting sightings or getting involved through diving hunts, you can play an important role in protecting and preserving the local coral reefs that make St. John so special.
Spotted a lionfish around St. John coral reefs?
CALL CORE 1-833-774-2673
Featured image credit to underwater photographer Dan Hershman
CORE is a great organization. Last Dec. my wife and I spotted a lionfish on the right side of Francis maybe 1/3 of the way out towards Mary Point. Once back on the beach I called CORE 1-833-774-CORE (2673), provided a very detailed description of exactly where we saw the lionfish. They then do an email blast to all of their members. As it turned out, the person who I actually spoke with went out the next day (since he hadn’t heard that anyone found it yet) and personally found and took care of the lionfish (I coincidentally only found that out from a FB post where he said he captured it the next day). To all you avid snorkelers out there, if you see one, please call and report it – it is well worth the call. TIA, Ed
Lion Fish are a wonderful fish to eat. A mild white fish. We winter in Cozumel, and they have made great efforts over the past 5+ years to eradicate the species to save the reefs. They have turned it into a culinary delight, and it is now becoming hard to keep it on the menus. Need to get the word out as I saw no mention of this in the article.
Hello! I debated mentioning it in the article – as a general rule of thumb, Virgin Islanders do not eat reef fish or their predators (such as lionfish) because of the high risk of ciguatera in the water. Ciguatera is a serious food borne illness that attacks the nervous system and is made from algae in tropical waters.
Its talked about briefly here https://www.corevi.org/uploads/2/0/4/8/20486700/lionfish_response_plan__final_small.pdf.