Who would release these beauties into the wild?

[SanguinesDream]

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/20...p-the-natives/

What is more shocking is how well they are doing considering the cold waters of the Atlantic.

[Dearth]

There was a big discussion about this on reef central and there was a story of an American couple releasing several lionfish into the ocean in South Carolina as they had outgrown the tank they were housed in and felt that releasing back into the ocean would do no harm.

Too many people are ill informed or don't do the proper research I see it all the time in other hobbies or industries and while it is prolific in the US we are just as bad up here. BC fish and wildlife salted a lake many years ago up where I grew up as they had found several northern pike in the lake and decided to kill the entire lake rather than let the pike escape the salting worked but it was an extreme measure and kept quiet for obvious reasons. The pike were introduced by a fisherman from Alberta pike are not native to the lakes where I grew up.

[gregzz4]

Maybe Lionfish prices at the LFS will drop ?
Or it will become a new delicacy in your favourite restaurant

I've also seen the rise in their populations ( just through awareness ) over the years as they take over previously un-inhabited territories

Maybe they need more spear fishers

I remember there being a study ( and a documentary I saw ) where they stated that spear fishing wasn't going to be enough to eradicate this invasive species in a particular region that I don't recall right now ...

Curious to see what happens in the near future

And, yup, I'm a big help with stats and regions, aren't I ?

[toytech]

Make soup out of them and tell people it makes them virulent , bam no more lion fish ! Look at the shark population . Shark fin soup is one of the reasons the fish are taking over , the reef sharks are one of the few predators of the lion fish.