Abstract

Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) have established populations throughout the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean with demonstrable effects on native species, fisheries, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes. Effective management of this invasion has proved to be beyond the capacity of natural resource organizations alone and requires innovative approaches as well as collaboration among a diverse set of stakeholders. In response, organizations throughout the Western Atlantic region have mobilized citizen scientists to physically remove lionfish, raise awareness and collect important data needed to manage the invasion. Using a structured survey, we assessed 71 organizations’ lionfish management approaches, perceived impact, obstacles, public participation, engagement with citizen scientists, and the importance of citizen scientists to lionfish research and management. We examined five case studies that demonstrate organizations’ multi-pronged approaches to lionfish control and engagement of citizen scientists and other members of the public for monitoring, removal, and knowledge-sharing efforts. Our findings demonstrate the conservation value of citizen scientists to organizations and their efforts to monitor and control the invasion. The majority of organizations engaging citizen scientists could not conduct their work without them. The data gathered by most of these organizations contribute to scientific publications, management, and government agency research and/or policy.

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