Workshop on Lion fish held in Tulum

Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to participate in a workshop about the Lion Fish called “Regional Strategy to control and mitigate the impact of lion fish in the Mexican Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico” which was held in Tulum and it was organized by different governmental agencies.

During the talk they described the species giving important facts about its biology. Also there was information about the venom that this fish has in his spines; what are the first aid and the symptoms after a stung. It was very interesting to know more about this fish as they also told us the life cycle, only one female can laid 15 to 30,000 eggs for four days every month!!!

There aren’t any predators for this invasive species so that is helping them to reproduce more and more. This fish is originally from the Indo Pacific and its been around in the Atlantic for more than a decade, however the last few months it was started to be seen more. They are known to eat only fish back in their natural area but here they are little greedy creatures and they are having whatever they find from crustaceans, molluscs and even important fish of fisheries like snappers and groupers.

In the workshop they talked also about the strategy to get rid of them, they showed a plastic net that is used to catch them.

Several dive shops and other organizations went to this meeting as everybody is very worried about the situation. It is necessary to act now before it gets worse. In the Bahamas this problem started a few years ago and as they didn’t do anything now you can see up to 300 lion fish in only a square meter!

Workshop on Lion fish held in Tulum