CORE Volunteers Bag 12 Lionfish from Johnson’s Reef Area

 

 Volunteers continue to hunt and eradicate lionfish, vibrant, poisonous and potentially devastating to reef health, from local waters. 

A group of volunteers with the Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation recently bagged 12 lionfish in waters off St. John, helping to eliminate the threat the fish species pose to local reefs.

Lionfish are capable of eating huge amounts of reef fish, which are vital to the health of coral. If the reef fish numbers decline, the health of reefs will quickly decline as well.

To combat the problem, CORE trains local divers to search and spear lionfish, which have poisonous spines and should not be handled by those not trained.

On Sunday, May 19, Maho Bay Watersports’ Ocean Quest hosted a lionfish dive at Johnson’s Reef, where Dave D’Alberto, Rafe Muilenburg, George Kremer and Frank Cummings helped to bag 12 of the 14 lionfish spotted that day.

For more information about CORE, check out www.nolionfish.com.