Belize Blog – Belizeadventure.com

Our island is located off the coast of Belize at Glover’s Reef Atoll, a National Marine Reserve. In order to protect the marine life there, the Belize government has prohibited fishing at Glover’s reef for tourists except for sport fishing, or catch-and-release. The only exception is if you are a native and own one of the few fishing licenses issued for Glover’s Reef.

There is one other exception: lionfish — anyone can spear them because they are an invasive species from the Pacific Ocean (the Caribbean is an Atlantic sea). Lionfish are very detrimental to the native species population, and killing them is encouraged. Watch this short video of our guide, Victor Myers, spearing one.

The lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific region, have infiltrated their way into the Caribbean. Their introduction is believed to be a result of hurricanes and tank releases during the early 1990’s. They have been spotted along the eastern seaboard spanning as far north as Rhode Island to as far south as Columbia. Protected by venomous spines, lionfish are voracious predators. When hunting, they herd and corner their prey using their pectoral fins, then quickly strike and swallow their prey whole. With few known natural predators, the lionfish poses a major threat to coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean region by decreasing survival of a wide range of native reef animals via both predation and competition. While native grouper may prey on lionfish, they have been overfished and therefore unlikely to significantly reduce the effects of invasive lionfish on coral reef communities.

Help us do something about this problem! Bring your spear gun with you on one of our island trips!

If you’ve ever wondered what our guests experience while visiting Long Caye in Belize, this 35 min. video, shot by one of our guests and posted on Youtube last October, is a true, full immersion experience. The clarity of the photography is amazing, especially the close-ups of the reef and associated marine life through the crystal clear water.

Last March I wrote about fishing for lionfish on our island, Long Caye at Glover’s Reef. Glover’s Reef is a protected Marine Reserve, and therefore fishing is prohibited (except catch-and-release for sport fishermen). The only fish you can catch and keep is lionfish. This is because these fish are non-native and a very recent arrival in the Caribbean, as this is a Pacific fish. Lionfish are a major problem, they are voracious eaters and are spreading rapidly. We are doing what we can, for the first time in years we are taking spearguns on snorkel expeditions. Sometimes we feed them to the eels, and we have been experimenting with lionfish as a culinary delight! View our post from last March.

Asha Agnish, a two-time return guest, just sent me an article from the New York Times about this very subject! Answer for Invasive Species: Put It on a Plate and Eat It It seems that once again, great minds think alike. Our blog was just a tiny bit ahead of the New York Times! Thanks Asha!

A few weeks ago we wrote about spearfishing for lionfish, our newest sport on our island in Belize. Lionfish were introduced to the Atlantic basin recently, and arrived at Glover’s Reef just 2 years ago. Now there is a Caribbean-wide mission to keep their numbers down, as they have no natural predators since they are a Pacific fish. They will eventually eat all of the coral fishes in the small area that they take for their territory.

Our staff have been experimenting with preparing lionfish for the table. Victor has a great idea for lionfish cooked with lemongrass and served with fresh coconut slivers in lieu of noodles (both growing on the island). Here are some shots of Victor with a recent harvest.

The Lionfish is an introduced species to the Caribbean, first reported in the wild years ago near Florida, where it is suspected several were released into the sea by aquarium owners. Native to the Indonesian and Indian Ocean region, it has been kept as an ornamental fish by aquarium owners for years due to its beautiful colors and unusual fan of fins.

The Lionfish sports an array of toxic spines among its fins, which although not lethal are extremely painful to encounter, and are poisonous to other predatory fish. Thus, the Lionfish has no natural enemies, and in fact is a voracious predator itself, feeding on the juveniles of most species of reef fish. It reproduces rapidly, and not only takes over any reef ecosystem it colonizes but decimates the local fish populations.

From the Florida region, the Lionfish has spread throughout the Caribbean, and only recently reached Belize 3 years ago. Rumor has it someone dumped their aquarium fish into the sea! We have seen them spread throughout Glover’s Reef Atoll over the past few seasons, and now we encounter them on all our snorkel and dive excursions. One recent scuba diving group counted over 60 Lionfish in a single dive! Unfortunately, we expect to see fewer indigenous reef fish as the Lionfish population increases, and as the Lionfish themselves become larger as they mature. At first we were only seeing Lionfish a few inches in length, but this season we have seen them almost 12″ in size. Fortunately, we are allowed to spear Lionfish (the ONLY fish we can fish and keep), and they are very good to eat!