Researchers find more strategic culling needed to reduce lionfish invasion
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - 12:50
in Earth & Climate
We've all seen the stories - lionfish derbies and other efforts are ongoing in the United States and Caribbean, all with the goal of helping to decrease the number of highly invasive and ecologically devastating lionfish in our oceans. A new analysis published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series now suggests that unfortunately, the existing typically localized and intermittent derby efforts are barely making a dent in reducing overall lionfish numbers and containing their spread. This is because the culling effort is too small and locations for culling are chosen without taking into consideration direction of currents which can carry lionfish larvae to downstream regions far away.