Thursday, February 3, 2011

Invasive Lionfish News

Lion Hunter Safety-Spear Update * Now shipping Caribbean wide. 
Since the introduction of the Lion Hunter Safety-Spear at the December 2010, West Palm Beach Dive Show, volunteers have been working overtime assembling spears and shipping orders. Good news; production has ramped up and there is no longer a backlog.  
In the last few weeks we have shipped to dive shops and divers in Cozumel, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Turks and Cacaos, Antilles; to mention a few. Florida divers and shops have been supplied from Jupiter to the Keys. And the feedback we are getting is glowing. A diver in the Virgin Islands emailed:This Safety-Spear was awesome! My first kill with your tool; after getting in the mail the night before.  I showed to about five instructors and they all tried to find flaws, but nothing. I wish I would have got this on video! Thanks.
Most coral reef scientists agree the exponential spread of the Pacific lionfish across the Caribbean represents a significant threat to the stability of the regions already compromised coral reef ecosystem. NOAA has launched the Eat em to Beat em campaign to encourage divers to help control the invaders population and lionfish derbies are being held from Mexico to Barbados. 
While derbies are useful in raising awareness, it is our opinion that effective lionfish population control may only be accomplished with a constant pressure from the recreational diving community. That is why we helped develop the Safety-Spear; a spear gun for divers who do not normally spearfish. Small and compact, the pointed spear is sheathed in a safety tube making it easy to stow in your gear bag and to clip to your BCD, so you can take it with you on every dive. 
Support your local dive shop
Want a Safety-Spear? Check with your dive shop first. If they do not have them in stock encourage them to contact: lionhunter@comcast.net to place an order. 
No dive shop? Buy online at: www.lionhunter.info 
Regardless where you get your Safety-Spear profits will go to Reef Rescue coral reef conservation projects. Reef Rescue is beginning to develop a lionfish database where divers will be able to enter lionfish observations and lionfish take data. We believe we may already be seeing a reduction in lionfish numbers on some Palm Beach County reefs where divers have made a concentrated effort to hunt lionfish. It is too early to assess what impact divers may have had on the lionfish population, but with the launch of the Reef Rescue lionfish data base we will be able to track trends and supply researchers with much needed information. 
We are constantly updating the Reef Rescue Coral Reef Blog with the latest lionfish information as well as other important issues.  
 Click here to stay in touch with all the RR Blog reports.
Palm Beach County Reef Rescue
www.reef-rescue.org