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Marine Life & Conservation

The Lionfish Kings of Grand Cayman’s East End

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“Lionfish are beautiful, resilient and strong – a cool fish – but they are deadly to our reefs and if we don’t stop them something bad is going to happen,” says Matt Russell, a divemaster/instructor at Ocean Frontiers who has watched the invasion with deep concern for the marine environment. Russell is a dedicated, educated and skilled warrior in the fight against the predatory Lionfish, consistently culling large numbers on dives – a record 56 fish during a 2-tank dive. He’s also a member of the very exclusive “30 Club” whose members have removed 30 or more Lionfish on a single dive. Matt also teaches customers how to safely and humanely remove the invasive species from the reefs.

Cayman 2“The hunt was wickedly fun at first, but now I feel an obligation to get as many people involved as I can,” he says. Matt and his co-workers follow the lead set by their boss Steve Broadbelt (also a member of the 30 Club) who is out there hunting and spearing as many Lionfish as he can on company culls.  “We’re pretty competitive! Steve ‘gets it’ and understands that we need to keep the pressure on.”

This attitude and the resulting teamwork is why Ocean Frontiers is winning the local battle against invasive Lionfish prowling the reefs at East End, if not the broader war against the predator.  Broadbelt and his team aggressively press on, culling as many predators as they can, and encouraging locals and customers to get involved in the fight. In March they crossed an important thresh hold – they have removed 10,000 Lionfish from East End reefs since they began culling three years ago.

Also this month their best customer for the fish, Chef Ron Hargrave, who operates Tukka at East End and Eagle Ray’s Dive Bar & Grill at Compass Point Resort, calculates that he has purchased 6000 pounds of Lionfish at a cost of $25,000. This partnership between Broadbelt and Hargrave is an example of how the community can help fight the Lionfish invasion, and it exemplifies the hope behind the mantra being repeated across the Caribbean: to beat them eat them.

Culling invasive Lionfish is a day in, day out challenge, and while eradicating them completely from Cayman’s reefs is unlikely, Ocean Frontiers is hoping to keep the predator population manageable at East End dive sites. Once a week, Ocean Frontiers runs a one-tank afternoon cull, and customers are asked to help by being Lionfish spotters for trained cullers. This helps keep the Lionfish population low on regular dive sites, but a more aggressive approach is needed for other areas of the reef not regularly dived. Ocean Frontiers also offers an all-day 3-tank cull once a month for Cayman residents who are licensed to use spears and have their own DoE approved spears. The dive operation also offers a culling class, taught by Matt Russell, for customers interested in being trained and licensed to spear Lionfish.

Cayman 3“These trips target the hard to reach areas that are too far to get to on a typical half day trip,” says Broadbelt.  “We’ve also developed what we call ‘parachute drop culling’ where we split the residents into three teams and drop them off along the reef sequentially the estimated distance apart that they are expected to cover. This enables us to cull over 1 mile of linear reef at a time and has resulted in many top scores. This method can only be used in the right conditions with advanced divers that we are comfortable with… I would class it as an extreme dive, but worth the results.”

The numbers tell the story: to date Ocean Frontiers has culled a total of 10,202 Lionfish; 1008 divers have participated in culling dives; the most fish ever culled in one day is 320; the most culled by a single diver in one dive is 39; the longest Lionfish caught is approximately 13 inches measured from nose to base of tail; the smallest is about 2 inches. Everything is carefully documented and the results are reported to the Department of Environment where a Lionfish database is kept.

Chef Ron Hargrave takes all the Lionfish being harvested at East End, no matter the size, and adds them to his menu. He says most of their customers are aware of the issue and support the cause by ordering at least one Lionfish dish – among the most popular are the famous Lionfish Tacos served at Eagle Ray’s Dive Bar & Grill.

Cayman 4“Customers love it! And why not… Its delicate, flakey, white meat is very mild and extremely tasty,” he says, adding that demand is going up all the time.

“The Lionfish tacos at Eagle Ray’s are probably the best I’ve ever had and they are on the menu 100% of the time,” says Matt Russell who often recommends them. “I’ll ask customers ‘did you try those fish tacos? I caught them!’”

Steve Broadbelt says licensed local cullers joined the fight once they understood the threat posed by the Lionfish, and they continue to be involved.

“Divers do not like harming or killing (culling) marine life, but we have to be smarter than our emotions and understand the damage the Lionfish are doing and the importance of our environmental work,” he says. “We employ some of our own techniques to make sure the Lionfish are terminated as quickly and humanely as possible. There is no reason to make them suffer – they are just not welcome here.”

“You have to take care of the things you love and there are few things I love more than Cayman’s reef life,” says local customer Mark Rovner, a licensed spearer. “At first I was apprehensive about killing fish, but once you understand the horrific damage these invasives can do, you realize there’s no choice. And if not me, who?

Broadbelt says getting Ocean Frontiers customers involved in culling is easy when they become aware of the threat Lionfish pose and sometimes a little competition keeps the hunt interesting.

Cayman 5“We make the culling trips fun and competitive by encouraging a little rivalry and team spirit,” he says. “Most divers don’t need motivation. They care about the environment and there is always this desire to do a good thing and help with the problem. Some of them just love it and can’t get enough.”

Is regular culling it working? Broadbelt says the data they’ve collected and submitted to the Department of Environment indicates that Lionfish counts and sizes are being reduced. Customers are also seeing fewer of them during dives on return trips.

“When I started, the lionfish populated almost every dive site. Now it is a surprise to see a lionfish,” agrees regular customer John Sharp who has participated in culling dives.

“Yes culling is making a difference, but it is like a leaking boat,” says Steve Broadbelt. “Every time we bail out some water… more just keeps coming back in. We can keep bailing and bailing, but we have to find a better long term solution.”

For more information on Ocean Frontiers, visit www.oceanfrontiers.com.

Marine Life & Conservation

New report shows simple measures needed to cut beach plastic pollution

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The Marine Conservation Society has launched its annual State of our Beaches 2023 report, highlighting the need for less single-use plastic items and more refillable options.

The charity’s beach cleaning programme, now in its 30th year, asks volunteers to record all litter that they find within a 100-metre stretch of beach. By gathering vital data from across the UK and Channel Islands, the charity creates change for cleaner seas and a healthier planet through policy and industry change. Last year, over 148 kilometres of beach were surveyed by volunteers, who removed 17,208kgs of litter from our coast.

Using data collected by over 14,000 volunteers, the State of our Beaches 2023 report shows that half of all litter collected came from public sources – either dumped, blown or washed onto our beaches.

Drinks-related litter, such as plastic bottles, caps and cans were one of the most found items, with an average of 16 found per 100 metres of beach surveyed. This figure is up 14% compared to the charity’s 2022 report.

Plastics caps and lids were recorded on 89% of surveys, with over 30,000 found in total. Plastic bottles were also commonly collected, with 73% of surveys finding this single-use item – a 4% increase compared to 2022. The charity’s inland litter pick survey, Source to Sea, also reported finding plastic bottles on 92% of cleans.

However, the charity’s State of Our Beaches 2023 report also indicates that some types of litter are on a downward trend. Although still in the top 10 litter items, disposable plastic cutlery, trays and straws were found on 5% fewer beaches across the UK, showing that bans on these plastic items between 2022 – 2023 could be working. The presence of plastic cotton bud sticks also dropped by 14%.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said, “Half of the litter found on our beaches originates from public sources, underscoring the pressing issue of single-use plastic. Evidence shows that refillable alternatives and litter return schemes effectively reduce rubbish, as demonstrated by the decline our data has shown in items like plastic bags and disposable cutlery.

“Urgent and decisive action from UK governments is needed to accelerate our shift towards a circular economy, where we reuse, repair and recycle. The public needs greater access to refillable products and systems need to be implemented in which manufacturers are responsible for their waste.”

Governments across the UK have committed to delivering deposit return schemes from October 2025. However, the proposed scheme in England does not include glass items, despite glass being found on 52% of beaches in 2023. The charity is calling for governments across the UK to introduce compatible all inclusive deposit return schemes as soon as possible. This would see aluminium cans, and plastic and glass bottles have a 20p deposit which would be returned when recycled which would reduce drinks-related pollution.

Businesses are, however, starting to take refillable and reusable options into their own hands. Supermarket chain, Aldi, the largest corporate funder of the charity’s 2024 Beachwatch programme, is already leading the charge in refillable items by trialling refillable options for cereals and porridge oats in their stores over the past 5 months.

Plastics and Packaging Director, Luke Emery, from Aldi, who are running 4 beach cleans for staff and volunteers in 2024, said, We are continually working to reduce single-use plastics and packaging, and making unpackaged product options more commonplace for our customers is a key part of this. We are really pleased with the uptake of our refillable range so far by customers. Not only are we making sustainable shopping more accessible, but we also offer refill products for a better price than the packaged alternative, helping our customers save money.”

Marine litter is one of the biggest threats to our seas, with plastic breaking down over time into microplastics and threatening marine life which can ingest or become entangled in them. The Marine Conservation Society is urging the UK Government to move faster on its policies to cut down plastic waste and prevent items from reaching our seas.

To find out more about the charity’s beach cleans and how to get involved, please visit mcsuk.org/beach-cleans

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Guarding Against Coral Invaders

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Protecting (Dutch) Caribbean Reefs from Unomia stolonifera

Recent reports highlight the concerning spread of the invasive soft coral, Unomia stolonifera, currently devastating Venezuela’s marine ecosystems and detected in Cuba. With the potential threat of its expansion to the (Dutch) Caribbean islands, urgent action and awareness are essential to safeguard marine biodiversity and local economies from possible catastrophic consequences.

Invasive species are animals or plants from another region of the world that don’t belong in their new environment. These species can have major ecological effects by decimating native flora or fauna. They can also cause large economic losses and impact human health. Invasive species also pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems worldwide, including the Dutch Caribbean. Among these invaders is the octocoral species Unomia stolonifera or “Pulsing Xenia”, originally from the Indo-Pacific. With its rapid growth and lack of natural predators, this species can outcompete native species and disrupt fragile marine habitats such as seagrass beds and coral reefs.

Background

The invasive soft coral U. stolonifera was first identified in 2014, off the coast of Venezuela. It is believed to have been introduced via the illegal aquarium trade.  Since this species can reproduce sexually and asexually (or fragment), even small pieces can regenerate to spread.  Once introduced it quickly took over shallow reefs and hard substrate at depths of 0-50 meters, outcompeting local corals and seagrass for space.  Follow on surveys found that this coral species exhibited average percentage cover as high as 80%, vastly outcompeting native corals. In highly colonized areas, fish are disappearing due to loss of habitats.

In 2022, during a survey conducted in Cuba by the University of Havana, an unknown octocoral was discovered which was later identified as the invasive Unomia stolonifera. It is suspected that the coral larvae arrived in ballast water from fossil fuel ships originating from Venezuela, as nearby sites adjacent to Venezuelan ports have been heavily affected by the invasion.

How to help

Prevention through continuous monitoring, particularly in high-risk areas such as marine harbors and oil facilities, is paramount. Early detection plays a pivotal role in mitigating the threat posed by Unomia stolonifera.

The public’s involvement and awareness are also vital. Local communities, recreational divers, tourists, and all stakeholders are urged to participate in early detection efforts by reporting sightings (photo, location and date) of this invasive coral to their respective Protected Area Management Organization (PMO’s)- the Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba (FPNA)STINAPA BonaireCARMABI Curaçao Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF)Nature Foundation St. Maarten (NFSXM) and St. Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA). If an invaded area is confirmed, follow the recommendations by the local PMO’s.

Keys to Success

Despite the challenges, early detection is key to mitigating the threat posed by Unomia stolonifera. With continued vigilance, research, and community engagement, there is hope for containing this potential issue before it becomes a major threat.

About the DCNA

The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) supports (science) communication and outreach in the Dutch Caribbean region by making nature related (scientific) information more widely available through amongst others the Dutch Caribbean Biodiversity Database, DCNA’s news platform BioNews and through the press. This article contains the results from several scientific studies but the studies themselves are not DCNA studies. No rights can be derived from the content. DCNA is not liable for the content and the in(direct) impacts resulting from publishing this article.

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