More
than 111 thousand invasive lionfish have been removed from Florida
waters since the state kicked off its statewide lionfish challenge
and Panhandle pilot program last May.
Since
the May 14th kickoff, 95 divers have entered the statewide
Lionfish Challenge, which rewards divers for taking 50 or more
lionfish.
David
Garrett of Volusia County was recently named Florida's first ever
Lionfish king for removing over 3300 lionfish on his own.
He
was presented a custom-made, mounted metal lionfish trophy at this
week's Florida Fish and wildlife Conservation Commission meeting.
He
will also be featured on the cover of the January 2017 Saltwater
Regulations Publication and will receive a lifetime saltwater
fishing license.
There
is also an ongoing Panhandle Pilot Program, which rewards divers for
every 100 lionfish removed from Escambia through Franklin counties,
where lionfish densities tend to be higher.
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 for native species in Florida waters.
Fishermen
who take part in the Panhandle Pilot Program and help remove lionfish
from the waters off Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf
and Franklin counties, become
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.
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.
Find
out more about the program on-line at myfwc.com
http://live.oysterradio.com/
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