Several lionfish control and removal events are scheduled for May in Escambia County to raise awareness about lionfish, a nonnative, invasive species that have a potential negative impact economy, environment and fisheries:
- Regional Lionfish Control Workshop – 4:30 p.m., Monday, May 9 at the Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place, Pensacola. At the workshop participants will learn how to assist in controlling the lionfish population. The objective of the Lionfish Regional Control Workshop will be to allow everyone to become involved in controlling the lionfish population, as collaboration is our best chance for successfully reducing lionfish.
- Second Annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, May 14 -15, at Plaza de Luna, 900 S. Palafox St., Pensacola. To participate in the tournament, visit the Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition webpage at http://gulfcoastlionfish.com/lionfish_events.html. This Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission event will include celebrity chef and fillet demonstrations, lionfish tastings, family-friendly activities such as games and a fountain to play in, and more than 40 art, diving and conservation vendors. Check out the booths of our many sponsors including Guy Harvey Magazine, iHeartMedia, Coast Watch Alliance, Edible Invaders, Visit Pensacola, Escambia County Division of Marine Resources, Florida Sea Grant, the City of Pensacola and tournament host Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition. Help Costa Kick Plastic by bringing a plastic water bottle for recycling and receive a metal bottle in return. Learn more at www.costadelmar.com/inside-costa/kick-plastic. More at Facebook.com/lionfishreefrangers and ReefRangers.com/Event-Info.
In addition to the Pensacola Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is offering two new lionfish removal programs, the Lionfish Challenge and the Panhandle Pilot Program:
Lionfish Challenge Remove 50 or more lionfish between Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day of May 14 and the end of September and get entered in the FWC’s Lionfish Challenge. Rewards include:
- a commemorative coin to mark membership;
- an event T-shirt;
- Lionfish Hall of Fame recognition on the MyFWC.com website;
- be entered in drawings to win prizes including fishing licenses, lionfish harvesting equipment, fuel cards and dive tank refills;
- if qualified before the relevant harvest season starts, the opportunity to take an additional spiny lobster per day during the 2016 mini-season (July 27-28);
- and, the person who “checks in” the most lionfish will be crowned Florida’s Lionfish King or Queen and will receive a lifetime saltwater fishing license, have his or her photograph featured on the cover of the FWC’s January 2017 Saltwater Regulations publication, be prominently featured on MyFWC.com’s Lionfish Hall of Fame, and be recognized at the November 2016 FWC Commission meeting.
Email photos of your first 50 qualifying lionfish to [email protected] to enter the program. To qualify for additional prizes and a chance to win Lionfish King or Queen, bring the tails of any lionfish harvested in excess of the initial 50 to an FWC approved checkpoint (list coming soon to MyFWC.com/Lionfish).
Panhandle Pilot Program The Panhandle Pilot Program will focus on lionfish removal efforts off Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, where lionfish can be found in high densities. For every 100 lionfish checked in from this seven-county region between May 2016 and May 2017, the harvester will be 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. The state will issue a total of 100 red grouper and 30 cobia tags in total to successful participants in the pilot program. In addition, the first 10 persons or groups that check in 500 or more lionfish during this one-year period will be given the opportunity to name an artificial reef. To qualify, bring the tails of any lionfish harvested in excess of the initial 50 to an approved FWC checkpoint (list coming soon to MyFWC.com/Lionfish).
Questions? Contact the Robert Turpin, Escambia County Marine Resources Division Manager at (850) 554-5869 or [email protected], or the FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management at (850) 487-0554.
