Invasive Lionfish Found at Key Largo’s Harry Harris Beach

By KEVIN WADLOW
kwadlow@keynoter.com
Saturday, April 10, 2010 06:00 AM EDT

Alecia Adamson and Lad Akins capture a small lionfish from inside a protected swim area at Harry Harris Park on Thursday. Sightings of the nonnative lionfish are becoming more common in Keys waters.

A lionfish capture Thursday took only minutes, but it ranks as one of the most worrisome lionfish incidents yet in Florida Keys waters. The juvenile lionfish, measuring just under two inches long, was captured in the shallow water of an enclosed swim area at Harry Harris County Park in Tavernier.

“We don’t want people to panic, but this is a little disturbing,” said Lad Akins of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, looking at the park’s beach, crowded even on a weekday afternoon. Akins, one of the best-known experts in lionfish eradication in Florida and Caribbean waters, and REEF associate Alecia Adamson netted and bagged the lionfish near a culvert on the west side of the Harry Harris swim basin.

The swim area is completely surrounded by a stony seawall, but three large culverts allow water exchange. Grates in the culverts screen large animals out but even an adult lionfish could pass in the grate openings. “We’ve had some lionfish sightings near shore before, but nothing like this,” Akins said. “It shows the value of early detection and rapid response.”

In the 14 months since January 2009, when the first lionfish was spotted in Keys waters, there have been 119 sightings in Monroe County waters, with 71 lionfish captured. Most have been juveniles, but fish up to 9 inches have been taken locally. Lionfish are an invasive species, a Pacific Ocean fish notable for its array of feathery plumed spines. All of the spines pack a strong venom jolt for swimmers or divers who are stuck. Lionfish stings are extremely painful and can cause respiratory problems but are not usually fatal.

Lionfish are not aggressive toward swimmers or divers, but they often do not shy away from humans. It is possible to hit one by accident. “Some of the big ones are curious. They’ll come up to see what a diver is doing,” Akins said.

The species may have gained a foothold along the U.S. coast and the Caribbean when hurricanes flooded South Florida, or when private owners released them when they outgrew home tanks. Biologists worry the fast-breeding and ravenous lionfish have no natural enemies in Atlantic waters and could become a threat to native fish populations. In areas like the Bahamas, lionfish have overwhelmed reefs.

Since March 31, six lionfish sightings have been reported locally to staff with the Mote Marine Laboratory and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “We expected this, since it’s getting warmer and more people get back into the water,” sanctuary spokeswoman Karrie Carnes said.

A tropical-fish collector spotted one this week at a piling near the Niles Channel Bridge in the Lower Keys. Other recent sightings have come from the Bibb shipwreck in about 130 feet of water off Key Largo, and the Aquarius underwater marine laboratory site at Conch Reef off Islamorada. Staff with the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute found a lionfish inside an experimental lobster trap in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Seven Mile Bridge.

An Ocala couple, Darby and Tammy Dugan, recognized the lionfish at Harry Harris Park on Wednesday while taking pictures of sea life. “They told the staff at Ocean Divers about it, and Ocean Divers knew to call it in,” Akins said. “The fish was exactly where the Dugans said they saw it.” The Keys sanctuary held a September training session on lionfish capture, and issued 100 permits to dive-operation staff to use nets or slurp guns to take lionfish they see inside Sanctuary Preservation Areas, where all harvest of fish usually is banned.

“Our goal is to control lionfish, especially in areas like the SPAs,” Carnes said. “It’s not really feasible to say we can eradicate them, given the ocean currents and increasing numbers of lionfish.” Another training session for lionfish removal is being planned for later this year.

Meanwhile, staff at the REEF headquarters in Key Largo is working with federal marine biologists to prepare a lionfish cookbook, in hopes of raising awareness of the lionfish as a food fish. Divers and snorkelers who sight a lionfish should call local reporting hotlines: (305) 852-0030 or (305) 395-8730.