An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Evaluating Impacts and Management of Invasive Lionfish

Abstract

Species invasions in marine ecosystems pose a threat to native fish communities and can disrupt the food webs that support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. In the Gulf of Mexico, densities of invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, are among the highest in their invaded range. In a workshop setting held over a 2-week period, we adapted an existing trophic dynamic model of the West Florida Shelf, located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to simulate the lionfish (both species) invasion and community effects over a range of harvest scenarios for both lionfish and native predators. Our results suggest small increases in lionfish harvest can reduce peak biomass by up to 25% and also that reduced harvest of native reef fish predators can lead to lower lionfish densities. This model can help managers identify target harvest and benefits of a lionfish fishery and inform the assessment and management of valuable reef fish fisheries.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was accomplished during a 2-week workshop held at the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville and the Keys Marine Lab, Florida Keys, in June 2015. We also thank Lad Akins and the Reef Environmental Education Program, Leroy Creswell (Florida Sea Grant), Meaghan Faletti and John Hunt (FFWC), Stephanie Green (Oregon State University), Elizabeth Mohammed (Caribbean Region Fisheries Mechanism), Sherry Larkin and Diego Valderrama (UF). We thank the Florida Keys Marine Lab for their cooperation during the workshop and Mendy Allen for logistical support that made the workshop possible. Data are available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfre-searchinitiative.org.

FUNDING

This research was made possible in part by a grant from BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative/C-IMAGE II and in part by funding from the FWC. Funding for the workshop was provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the National Marine Fisheries Service Recruiting, Training, and Research Program, and Florida Sea Grant.