Volume 68
Incentivizing Lionfish Removals through Development of Markets for Jewelry: Preliminary Experiences from Belize, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Authors
Karp, P., M.L. Fruitema, J.K. Chapman, E. Spencer, J. Curtis Quick, and N. Saul-Demers Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2015
Pages: 208 - 210
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty eigth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Panama City
Country: Panama
Abstract
The Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) invasion poses a unique threat to Caribbean marine ecosystems and as such requires innovative approaches for control. While localized removals can mitigate and/or reverse the negative impact of uncontrolled lionfish populations on native fish communities (De León et al. 2011, Frazer et al. 2012, Ali 2013, Green et al. 2014), such removals must be carried out regularly to confer long-term benefits to coral reefs and their associated fisheries (Morris et al. 2010, Barbour et al. 2011). For this reason, the creation of commercial incentives for lionfish removals is considered the most feasible option for achieving effective lionfish population control across broad geographic scope on a financially sustainable basis (Bogdanoff et al. 2014).