Abstract

Invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) threaten biodiversity and can negatively impact native reef fish communities that cultures and economies from North Carolina to Venezuela rely on for their livelihoods. Invasive lionfish control strategies, including commercial harvesting, are needed to mitigate local impacts. On November 4th 2013, 44 representatives from federal and state agencies, academic and scientific institutions, non-government organizations, law, restaurants, seafood distributors, media, and fishers participated in a workshop held during the 66th annual meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute in Corpus Christi, Texas to identify the challenges of harvesting and distributing invasive lionfish as a means of control. Harvesting invasive lionfish for control presents several challenges including difficulty of capture, threat of envenomation, and potential liability associated with ciguatera fish poisoning during invasive lionfish consumption. Never before have coastal managers in the western Atlantic faced the challenge of controlling an invasive reef fish. This document serves as the workshop proceedings and: i) Summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding the prevalence of ciguatera in invasive lionfish and the potential for liability, harvesting methods, supply and distribution, and end-uses, ii) Delivers a series of consensus statements developed by all workshop participants including agreement that harvesting invasive lionfish is feasible and necessary and that the seafood industry and seafood health regulators should treat invasive lionfish the same as other reef fish with regards to ciguatera, and iii) Identifies invasive lionfish harvesting and ciguatera research needs and priorities.

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