The creatures which many scientists say are responsible for causing the biggest environmental disaster the Atlantic has ever seen will be targeted again this month when The Antigua Conservation Society and St. James Club’s Mamora Bay Divers organize their third “derby”. Click here for more info.
This lionfish hunt will be different because it will be held in the peak of the yachting season and it’s hoped that some of the yacht crews will get involved in the hunt. We are hoping for at least 8 teams of hunters this time.
For those of you new to lionfish here’s a bit of info found in a few of my older blog posts. Click here for something I wrote back in July 2010 before anyone in Antigua and Barbuda had seen any lionfish. Since then, the invasive lionfish have been spotted right around Antigua and also right around Barbuda. They took a little time to get to the North and the East of Antigua but now they have been spotted everywhere which is very bad news. They will be eating anything and everything that they can swallow which is what makes them so dangerous. They are killing all life out on the reefs and it’s why we are encouraging people to hunt them at areas which are important to the various stakeholders. More and more people are cooking them and recently Club Sushi at the Antigua Yacht Club has put them on the menu too.
Aquasports in St. Johns is now selling lionfish slings and both Mamora Bay Divers and our company Adventure Antigua has slings to rent. You must use either slings or scoop nets to catch them. The numbers or these alien species keep going up and we need to control the invasion. Take part and have some fun on the 26th.