Catch lionfish for your chance to name an artificial reef

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have approved a new plan to help remove lionfish from Florida waters.

Lionfish are a nonnative, invasive species that threaten Florida’s native saltwater fish and wildlife.

They were introduced into Florida waters in the late 1980s but their population has boomed in recent years – and that is causing real problems in Florida waters.

The state is taking every action it can to slow their expansion, including removing all commercial and recreational limits for the fish.

And now the FWC has approved a pilot program that will reward fishermen for catching more lionfish.

The Panhandle Pilot Program will focus on lionfish removal efforts off Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, where lionfish can be found in high densities.

For every 100 lionfish harvested from this seven-county region between May 2016 and May 2017, the fisherman will be eligible to receive a tag allowing them to take either a legal-sized red grouper or a legal-sized cobia that is over the bag limit from state waters.

The state will issue 100 red grouper and 30 cobia tags in total to successful participants in the pilot program.

In addition, any person or group that harvests 500 or more lionfish during this one-year period will be given the opportunity to name an artificial reef.

The FWC will be working to establish as many lionfish check-in locations as possible between now and May 14th, and lionfish recorded at FWC-sponsored tournaments will automatically count. 

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