AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye "Kill it and grill it!"

Hey Elbert, what kind of size are you guys catching? We are in the market for the lionfish - bring them to us and we'll serve them on our menu! Is anyone a little concerned that dive shops may get a bad name with clients for spending dives catching lionfish and not guiding dives (I'm referring to several tripadvisor comments on one particular dive shop on SP...)?

I'm concerned also, the guides are in a hot competition but the job comes first. I've cautioned them. I saw that review of that dive shop on trip adviser and printed it out for my guys to read so that they might be aware it could annoy the tourist.
The Lemon virus Lemon aid of this could be to organize Lionfish Killing dives and sell trips for that.
I think a lot of the tourist would dig it and it would take the pressure off the normal scheduled dives to eradicate this menace to the reef.

I was recently diving at Roatan. On each of our dives, there were one or two other divers/dive masters/divemasters-in- training, diving along with us, specifically to hunt the lionfish. Our dive master still guided the dive, pointed out the sites, including lionfish, and the hunters took the lionfish. All of the fun divers found it to be a cool addition. However, had our dive master/guide, been completely focussed on being the hunter, I doubt we'd have thought it all that, perhaps necessary but not an addition to our enjoyment.

Yep that's what the complaint was about for that dive shop on Trip Adviser. The DM was preoccupied.
I think making a special event dive (on a separate boat)to kill Lionfish would be popular. Tons of divers just itching to get a spear in their hands and kill something.
Put them all on a special Spear Hunting excursion charge a price comparable to local diving rates and rent them a spear gun.
sell the fillet to the local restaurants and give a prize to the best hunter. win win and win.
It would even be good business for the local doctors!!

Elbert, I think that's what Ramon's is doing - selling dives as "lionfish spearing dives" and they've made their own small spearguns with reversible tips so they can be used as pointers/ spearguns. They're even selling the spearguns (slings) as tourist souvenirs!

I guess someone could even write a PADI specialty "spearfishing lionfish in Belize - safety and environmental concerns" !

Ya know, that's not a bad idea at all!

gives a bit more kudos and "officialdom" to it all.