The Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation (CORE) presents the first-ever Lionfish Derby to occur in the St. Thomas-St. John district beginning on Aug. 16 – 18, with fishing taking place on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 6 a.m. – 4 p.m.
CORE, a nonprofit organization established in the Virgin Islands in 2010, works to protect and preserve the marine and coral ecosystems across the Virgin Islands through various initiatives, including beach clean-ups, coral treatments, and coral growing operations. They also worked in partnership with other organizations to advocate for the exclusive use of mineral-based sunscreens in the territory after seeing how the oxybenzone sunscreens were degrading coral health. Additionally, CORE also works to reduce the populations of invasive species, like the lionfish with regularly scheduled hunts throughout the year.
Matthew Sims, the Education and Outreach director for CORE, believes that the growing lionfish population is creating hazardous effects on the health of our coral reefs and vulnerable fish species.
“Lionfish are native to Indo-Pacific waters where their natural predators such as groupers, eels, and sharks have evolved over time to recognize their patterns as prey. Their reproductive rate is very very high. Every year each female reproduces about 2 million eggs. They have a voracious appetite and eat anything indiscriminately. When introduced into a particular region that doesn’t have predators that recognize them, they run wild,” Sims said.
“The lionfish are eating up a lot of our juvenile fish, such as the parrot fish or our reef cleaners. This is creating an imbalance in the natural ecosystems of our oceans and harming the health of our coral reefs that depend on certain species to clean them of their algae build up and parasites,” continued Sims.
The Lionfish Derby was first brought to the island of St. Croix and proved beneficial in keeping the lionfish population under control. In an effort to bring this initiative territory-wide, CORE is now working to establish the derby on St. Thomas and St. John while also working to ensure that an educational component is met. Along with facilitating the derby, CORE is also providing various educational opportunities to teach local divers about lionfish and how to avoid stinging yourself with their venomous quills when culling the species.
“The headquarters for the upcoming Lionfish Derby will be at Red Hook Dive Center, who have been instrumental in the planning and execution of this event. They have not only offered us a location, but they have also been working diligently to get other local businesses on board. Some other key organizations who have been collaborating on this event are the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club and [DPNR] Fish and Wildlife”, says Sims.
If anyone is interested in participating or has questions about the upcoming Lionfish Derby, Matthew Sims can be contacted at outreach@corevi.org.
Registration and additional details can be found at www.corevi.org.
