The state is doing their best to try to remove lionfish. After the success Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day held across the state – and in Pensacola – the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initiated a Lionfish Challenge. In this program divers submit lionfish tails to local dive shops. The number of tails submitted by the divers is kept on record and different amounts can lead to different prizes. To date 9,216 lionfish have been submitted from across the state in this program. Assuming a 50:50 ratio on sex of fish collected – this could be as many 4,608 females. Assuming these females were all sexually mature – and that mature females can spawn 25,000 – 30,000 eggs / female / week – this could equate to a large number of eggs not being released.

If you are a diver and would like to get involved in the Lionfish Challenge visit http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/challenge/.

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