TELA, Honduras — “These lionfish are so confident,” says Mario Motiño Jr., co-founder and divemaster for Tela Divers, a community group in the small city of Tela on the northern coast of Honduras. He’s talking about Pterois volitans and P. miles, spectacular striped fish native to the Indo-Pacific that, with no natural predators due to their venomous spines, are brazenly wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems throughout the Caribbean. “When we get close to them with our spears they don’t even move, we can get as close as we want to hunt them.“ To protect Tela’s embattled coral reef, Motiño and his father, Mario Motiño Sr., both industrial engineers, are mounting a single-minded lionfish hunting effort to limit the fishes’ spread. “Lionfish hunting is usually a luxury practiced on the touristy islands, but here in Tela, we had to make gear to make it accessible for everyone,” says Motiño Sr. “The lionfish are everywhere because no one has dedicated themselves to hunting them here on the coasts of the mainland.” Live coral covers 68% of Tela Bay, creating a complex ecosystem. Overfishing has harmed parts of the reef, and bleaching, a potentially fatal result of high water temperatures due to human-caused climate change, has affected 40% of the corals in the wider Mesoamerican Reef, according to a new report based on research by the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA). Add to that the invasive lionfish, which are believed to have been released from personal aquariums. With no natural predator…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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