Since I have been back from Christmas break I have been trying to develop a Lionfish program in Portland, the Parish I live. I have been working with DBML (Discovery Bay Marine Lab) in creating a program and developing a work plan and a budget for approval. Last week I went to DBML for the week to get trained in Lionfish handling in the water and the process for sampling the fish. Sampling the fish consists of measuring head to toe, weighing, counting spines, and looking at gut contents for what they eat. I also learned how to do transects underwater. I got to go diving a few times and killed a couple lionfish. The first day diving was brutal, got sea sick and puked my guts out, luckily all that was in my guts was gator-aid... The other day diving was much better. I even got to see a nice sea turtle swim by. Here are some pictures.
I will post more about the project as I get further along in the planning. Right now I am just trying to complete my budget and get it approved by DBML. There is a small budget, so I hope it works out- especially after all this work! Anyways I am enjoying it and it is definitely keeping me busy! We are planning for some workshops for the fishermen in March, I will be posting more and keeping you updated!!
Here are a couple links if you're interested in finding out more about the invasive species Lionfish in the Caribbean.
http://www.reef.org/programs/exotic/lionfish
http://lionhunter.info/Lion_Hunter_Home_Page.html
Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to learning more about this project and your contribution to it, as well as your experiences with it. Thanks for those links.
I had to chuckle after reading your description of your first day of diving. Not chuckling about you getting sick, but about your comment minimizing the experience because you only had Gatorade in your stomach. It reminded me of an old joke about student pilots - - - they should only eat grape jelly before their first flights, because it tastes the same going both ways (!).