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#51828
Should Lionfish Be Killed Or Left Alone?
Greg - 7/20/2010 1:18 PM
Category: Survey
Replies: 157

Here is an excerpt from an article I recently read:

July 14th, 2010: "The venomous spikes on the small, striped fish can inflict serious injury, enough to send the person to the hospital in severe cases. Finding the Lionfish so close to the near-shore beaches is a new milestone for the invasion....The Lionfish are native to the South Pacific but have no known predators in the Atlantic. They got into the wild around Florida the same way many other invasive species did: They were released in to the wild by owners, this time by some aquarium owners."

So here’s my question: Should Lionfish be killed or should they be left alone? You could argue that this isn’t evolution because humans introduced them into an environment where they could grow in numbers without being kept in check by natural predators. So does that mean we undo our error by killing all the Lionfish in the Atlantic? Or accept our mistake and let the Lionfish live?
#12117
Eric_R - 8/08/2014 8:36 PM
[Choose #1] Nuke’em
#248
Kwai - 12/06/2012 8:21 AM
[Choose #3] Lionfish are beautiful creature,we should left it alone. Divers can visit them in ocean.
#30
BillyJoeJimBob - 11/21/2012 3:35 PM
[Choose #1] Rapid growth? From what I have learned, it is due to some ignorant fool that had a fish that was too big for his aquarium. You can guess what happened next. Others may tell you that some got ’loose’ from an aquarium during a hurricane.
#2309
Scuba-Smurf - 11/20/2012 9:30 AM
[Choose #3] Since this is a recent issue, controlling the population on reefs is a temporary situation, however it should be investigated as to what has caused the shift in the reef ecology that has caused the rapid growth...
#4573
lars - 1/10/2011 7:10 AM
[Choose #3] Controlled. They propagate way to fast and besides, they taste good!
#161
divershades - 12/03/2010 12:15 PM
[Choose #3] if they can be brougth undercontrol by killing some off it could be ok to have them around. If they can not be brought undercontrol there then becomes a need to kill off the fish.
#231
imbodie - 12/02/2010 7:48 AM
[Choose #1] Open season, like with wild hog’s in Florida. They will never be iradicated, but should at least be trying.
#572
greysquirrel - 11/28/2010 9:42 AM
[Choose #1] It’s not going to do any good to kill all the lion fish you see, they are already established but with a lack of any other predator we have to step up and fill the niche, since man made the problem man has to do what he can to fix the problem
#430
DarcyFL - 11/27/2010 4:39 PM
[Choose #3] Man has been involved in evolution since he was created. We are here as stewards, not judges. Management is the correct option.
#5436
flaski - 11/03/2010 8:06 AM
[Choose #1] I really inititially felt leave them be, until a little research and i do understand the reason for the need to get rid of them when possible.
#80
Aquaman69 - 9/22/2010 7:41 AM
[Choose #2] These fish are Beautiful just dont touch them they are from the stone fish family
#75
cmyguns - 9/10/2010 5:03 PM
[Choose #2] Don’t jack with em and you’ll be fine. :)
#20281
Smithsgold - 8/29/2010 1:06 PM
[Choose #1] Kill Them !!!
#95
JOE - 8/17/2010 8:01 AM
[Choose #2] how can somebody even think to kill anything in the sea,is’nt there enough mindless killing of sea creatures allready?
#63
Minky - 8/16/2010 9:35 PM
[Choose #3] kill them and eat them, I ate one in Bahamas-yum!
#110
justcuz7197 - 8/15/2010 8:20 AM
[Choose #3] we have proved once again that we have no business "managing" our environment... We do what we do and Mother Nature tries to clean up after us.
#124
neilcp - 8/15/2010 12:23 AM
[Choose #3] Introduce their predators into the waters to take care of them.
#4377
Catman - 8/11/2010 11:53 AM
[Choose #3] I believe something should be done to limit the numbers, like doe tags for hunting. No species should be killed to extinction, look what the human race has destroyed, but I don’t want them wiped out!
#2635
John_giu - 8/08/2010 6:37 PM
[Choose #3] Being a hunter I understand management and invasive species. If the people in the know see them as a threat then some form of control is proper. I only kill what I eat except for coyote which a a growing problem in Pa. So count me in for lion fish
#175
divergirl50 - 8/06/2010 9:07 AM
[Choose #1] I think they need to be filled in order to teach other fish to eat them. I know places are doing that now. Saw a video of a moray eel eating a live one and a dead one was fed to an anonome.
#261
LimestoneCowboy - 8/06/2010 5:12 AM
[Choose #3] There are programs to catch them but is it enough?
#1347
Pixel - 8/04/2010 2:38 PM
[Choose #2] It’s not their fault they weren’t wanted by their oweners anymore. Howwever if they are such a large threat to sea life, I wouldn’t be opposed to humane culling.
#4035
uwlover4u - 8/03/2010 11:16 AM
[Choose #3] They are here now. It’s too late to kill them all. Now Darwin takes over.
#3062
Indiana - 7/31/2010 7:47 PM
[Choose #1] They dont belong in the atlantic.They are doing more harm to other marine life
#348
LandSeaAir - 7/31/2010 10:21 AM
[Choose #1] They don’t belong there, they are destroying reefs by their unatural presence. It doesn’t matter how they got there. Ask the Australians about introducing species with no natural population controls and then more species to try and control THEM.
#228
JerryGray - 7/28/2010 9:24 PM
[Choose #3] If you kill everything that is dangerous then start with the U.S. government first!!!
#18
DivemasterofOknawa - 7/27/2010 11:25 PM
[Choose #3] PAY A BOUNTY FOR EACH SAFELY CAPTURED SO THEY CAN BE RELEASED BACK INTO THE THEIR NATURAL HABITAT.
#381
darkmaster1392 - 7/27/2010 4:19 PM
[Choose #3] have seasonal periods when it’s allowed just to contain the numbers
#845
SnowboardDave - 7/27/2010 12:27 PM
[Choose #1] The possibilty exists of them making their way over through ship ballast water. They should removed and either transported to the Pacific (which no one talks about) or fillet them and eat them!
#1602
LONGTAILBDA - 7/26/2010 11:45 AM
[Choose #1] good eats
#310
jnowak100 - 7/26/2010 11:44 AM
[Choose #1] an invasive species destroying the ecosystem in the caribbean, should be hunted
#69
randydkc - 7/26/2010 10:18 AM
[Choose #1] If it’s something we did wrong, we should fix it
#35
troush101 - 7/26/2010 12:49 AM
[Choose #3] personal choice with no ramifications
#70
Muckdivers - 7/25/2010 1:49 PM
[Choose #3] Need more info, We have issues with Zebra Mussles here in the MIDWEST good and bad.
#2242
MDW - 7/22/2010 10:25 AM
[Choose #3] Maybe kill the ones that are causing harm to other species or to humans and leave the rest alone.
#160
artistnres - 7/22/2010 2:52 AM
[Choose #1] i thought it was the angel fish,,,,,,,havent really looked into it fully,,,,,,,,,,
#337
silent - 7/21/2010 11:03 PM
[Choose #3] let the lion fish live, the ocean is its home.....
#14712
tardmaster - 7/21/2010 6:40 PM
[Choose #1] kill them in the non-native waters
#21
Darkstar - 7/21/2010 1:27 PM
[Choose #2] What right do we have to kill them We released them into the environment.
#6537
MonkeyDiver - 7/21/2010 10:17 AM
[Choose #1] If the population can be contained then get rid of them, but it may already be too late.
#20384
LatitudeAdjustment - 7/21/2010 9:44 AM
[Choose #1] Every time you go into a resturant ask for "Atlantic Lionfish", maybe we can get them overfished too!
#6109
HogLifer - 7/20/2010 10:35 PM
[Choose #1] If we don’t keep them in check, the only fish you will see while diving is the Lionfish !
#5471
DiveBuddyChgo - 7/20/2010 9:43 PM
[Choose #1] They eat way to much. You can watch them swallow sm. fish on the reef all day long.
#249
ScubaNut08 - 7/20/2010 9:35 PM
[Choose #1] Unless a natural predator is introduced to the Atlantic, they will take over and kill a lot of the native fish. So they should be removed in any means necessary
#598
bobfish - 7/20/2010 8:38 PM
[Choose #1] Invasive species such as Lionfish will compete with native fish for food and habitat. They also eat a lot of reef fish. Kill em all!
#1404
chazrich - 7/20/2010 3:28 PM
[Choose #3] Let’s really mess things up and introduce a predator.
#15342
scott - 7/20/2010 3:01 PM
[Choose #1] I hate killing anythink but there has to be some control
#51828
Subscribed
Greg - 7/20/2010 1:20 PM
[Choose #3] I’m on the fence about this one...maybe we could introduce the Lionfish’s predators (Large eels, frogfish and other scorpion fish) into the Atlantic.