Kilgo, J. M., Castillo II, B., Travis, J., Edwards, K., Gustafson, N., Brown, J., Rubattino, J., Packauslkas, N., Hillis-Starr, Z.

Lionfish response management plan. U.S. Virgin Islands. Update

2014

CORE Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, NOAA CRCP, VI Department of Planning and Natural Resources, University of the Virgin islands, National Park Service, and Friends of the St. Croix East End Marine Park

79

"This updated territorial Lionfish Response Management Plan addresses the potential ecological and economic threat posed by invasive lionfish with specific strategies for education and outreach, removal, research and monitoring, marketing, and communications. The plan was designed to establish agreed-upon goals and objectives and to build a framework for meeting these objectives through coordination among organizations, agencies, businesses and individuals. Since the creation of the original response plan in 2009, the severity of the lionfish invasion has worsened, local circumstances have changed, and researchers, managers and citizen groups are more organized and knowledgeable about what is working and what is not. Public forums and planning workshops were held on both St. Croix and St. Thomas in October 2013 to gather stakeholder input and compile the most recent knowledge on lionfish in the Virgin Islands. The public forums along with a survey questionnaire administered online or by one-on-one interviews provided an opportunity to review collective knowledge and recent research and to build upon the collaborative process to update and revise the original plan. Several gaps in knowledge became evident, but the following major findings and priority strategies will be helpful in guiding the actions of researchers, educators, managers, fishermen and response groups for the next several years: Localized and frequent removal by spearing or otherwise capturing lionfish seems to be effective at keeping lionfish numbers low at popular dive sites and near dive moorings. However, lionfish are still found in higher numbers at particular sites, at depth and following storm events. Further studies may reveal the cause of these patterns of recruitment, migration and/or habitat preferences. A handful of fishermen have started to successfully sell lionfish in local markets and to interested restaurants. Ciguatera testing reveals that although up to 12% of lionfish analyzed have been shown to harbor the neurotoxin above FDA guidance levels, prevalence does not seem to be any worse than other reef fish known to be ciguatoxic and no known case of poisoning from eating lionfish has yet occurred in the Caribbean. Promoting sale and consumption of lionfish by fishermen who already know hotspots of ciguatera to avoid in territorial waters increases the success of developing a safe and reliable market for lionfish."

FY2010 NOAA CRCP Territorial Coral Reef Grant NA10NOS4190061

NA10NOS4190061