Abstract

Invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.) were first detected in Antigua and Barbuda in 2009. In 2019, a team of scientists visited Antigua to investigate lionfish awareness and explore opportunities for management and control. One of the recommendations from this visit was to host a lionfish removal and awareness event. The objectives of the Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament were to (1) remove lionfish to mitigate their impacts, (2) raise awareness about the lionfish invasion, (3) demonstrate the profit potential of a lionfish fishery, and (4) collect baseline information about the population in the waters offshore Antigua. Eleven teams participated and dived 34 reef sites from 3-34m and caught a total of 863 lionfish over two days. Mean lionfish size was 261.6mm total length and the mean catch per unit effort (CPUE) was 28.8 lionfish per site. Compared to other large lionfish removal events in the United States, CPUE from the Antigua event was higher (2.4x), which may indicate densities are greater than previously understood. Lionfish total length data were binned based on depth (shallow: 3-20m and deep: 20-34m). Lionfish collected from deep waters were significantly larger (270.1mm) than in shallow water (173.1mm). The tournament concluded with a lionfish festival that included educational lectures, environmental outreach vendors, a children’s art competition, a cooking competition by local chefs, and awards delivered by the Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Tourism. Collectively, the tournament facilitated a synthetic outreach opportunity and collected baseline data for abundance indices and population structure.