Climate Action Honduras Project #8274

Control of Lionfish in the Mesoamerican Reef

by Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund)

Project Report | Aug 27, 2019
New National Lionfish Management Strategy in Belize

By Ximena Flamenco | Project Officer II

Belize National Lionfish Management Strategy

As reported previously and following the creation of the Regional Strategy for the Control of Lionfish in MAR (2014), in support to this effort and with your help, on February 21, 2019 in Belize City, Blue Ventures launched theBelize´s National Lionfish Management Strategy (NLMS) in collaboration with the Belize Fisheries Department. This was done almost exactly ten years since the invasive red lionfish (Pterois volitans) was officially recorded in Belize, as reported by Blue Ventures. This strategy provides guidelines for the design and implementation of lionfish management.

The NLMS is designed to help governments, conservation groups and other actors in the Caribbean region manage lionfish populations effectively. It incorporates environmental, social and economic well-being goals, and provides specific recommendations for the adaptive management of lionfish in Belize.

Following the launch of the NLMS, Blue Ventures brought together a multidisciplinary team of 17 people to establish the Lionfish Working Group (LWG). This group is tasked with guiding the implementation of the strategy.

The group has already held two quarterly meetings and has established their terms of reference, developed membership criteria, reviewed their activity timeline for 2019, and is preparing for the Lionfish Focused Search (LFS) survey in late September 2019.

All support provided has been possible thanks to your involvement, thank you for your help and for believing in our work.

The MAR Fund Team.

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May 29, 2019
Getting more people involved

By Ximena Flamenco | Project Officer II

and the Hunt begins

The NGO Bay Islands Conservation Association-UTILA (BICA-Utila), manager of the Turtle Harbour Rock Harbour Special Marine Protection Zone in Honduras, developed the XIII Lionfish Derby.

In January all preparation began, a workshop was developed for licensing for lionfish hunting through which five people were licensed. Activities to promote the derby were carried out and resulted in 10 more divers being licensed to participate.

To get even none-divers involved BICA-Utila developed two dissection workshop to train 37 participants in data collection, so all specimens collected could be analyzed.

When the time came, 63 competitors got listed, distributed into 16 teams from different dive schools and one conservation organization. Working together they were able to capture a total of 277 individuals. In collaboration, with seven students, community member, the Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Centre (WSORC), KANAHAU, the Bay Island Foundation, Parrots Dive Center and Centro Universitario Regional del Litoral Atlántico (CURLA) all individual caught where dissected. This information helps the NGO to continue feeding their database that contributes to generating information, thus supporting decision making towards an effective management for the control and mitigation of this invasive species.

All individuals after being dissected were filleted obtaining a total of 48 pounds of fillet. The fillets were delivered to five restaurants (Neptune’s at Coral Beach Village, Islanders, The Venue, Mango Inn Bar and Grill and Mr. Peter’s Goods), who feeling the competitive thrive, participated in the “Lionfish Cook Off”, a competition for the best lionfish dish, which allows restaurants to publicize their culinary options, showcasing their different dishes created from this delicious fish.

All of this has been able, thanks to your support in fighting this deadly predator

Thank you for being part of this fight

The MAR Fund Team

Lionfish

Data collection

The catch

Cook-off participants

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Feb 28, 2019
Launching the Lionfish National Strategy in Belize

By Ximena Flamenco | Project Officer

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