I just got back from a month and a half long visit to Culebra PR. One of goals was to do research on the lionfish problem there. Here is what I found. The scuba divers in the area reported that there were lionfish everywhere in 60 ft of water. In fact one local dive charter is starting to bring in lionfish to the dinghy dock restaurant to serve on their menu (good news). I conducted my own research all around the island by putting on my own mask and snorkel and was surprised to find only five lionfish, three juvenile and two adult. I dove from the shoreline to 500 yards out, from three feet of water to fifty feet and found NOTHING. There was plenty of small fish on the reefs to support a decent population of lionfish yet they were nowhere to be found. I can only attribute this to the presence of CORNET FISH. Cornet fish were everywhere. It is the only fish that Puerto Ricans do not hunt therefore they are thriving. Lionfish don't have a chance with these guys around. I imagine that they hunt the juvenile lionfish because their mouths are pretty small. They seem pretty aggressive hunters. I don't know much about them but perhaps they hold the key to bringing the lionfish problem under control. Somebody please look into this.
