[Coral-List] Teaching Mega-Fauna to eat Invasive P. Volitans
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Thu Mar 10 09:42:20 EST 2016
Hi Damien,
I believe that most here would agree that attempting to mitigate the impacts
of lionfish by having divers remove them is a good idea as long as care is
taken not to harm coral reefs in the process. The next step in your
"eco-solution" is a bit more complicated . . . and controversial. Should we
be feeding lionfish to other marine life in the hope that this would induce
some level of natural predation or biocontrol? I'm not qualified to answer
that, but you might find some useful insights in this paper and rebuttal on
the subject.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0021510#s2
https://peerj.com/preprints/141/
I'd like to add one more thought. I am concerned about the growing trend
throughout the diving industry that in effect encourages provisioning as an
acceptable way of promoting human interaction with sharks and other marine
wildlife. Instead, shouldn't we be inspiring divers to develop an
appreciation and concern for conserving and maintaining the natural world?
After fifty years of diving I'm still exhilarated by experiencing the wild.
I don't need or want to convert diving into a series of contrived underwater
circus acts. If we want more thrilling interactions with sharks and other
marine life, let's do what is necessary to protect and conserve them and the
overall health of their increasingly imperiled marine ecosystems.
Regards,
Steve Mussman
Sea Lab Diving
www.sea-lab.com
-----Original Message-----
>From: Damien Beri
>Sent: Mar 9, 2016 1:58 PM
>To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>Subject: [Coral-List] Teaching Mega-Fauna to eat Invasive P.. Volitans
>
>Hello my esteemed coral enthusiasts,
>
>Here's a topic for debate,
>
>Ecotourism or Eco-Solution?
>
>As we all know the Lionfish invasion of the Caribbean has severely altered
the feeding structure of the present reefs.
>
>While some may could find it controversial to work hands on with animals of
these communities to try and develops their taste for this insidious white
meat, I would like to know your thoughts.
>
>Here is a video where I am directly feeding live Lion Fish to some pretty
massive Black Tips;
>
>
>
>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0rRTUjldicU
>
>
>
>Please let me know your thoughts on the PROs Vs. CONs of this mitigation
method.
>
>Let's make helping the reefs exhilarating!
>
>Warm Regards,
>
>Damien Beri
>
>
>
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
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