In the past few years, the Cayman Islands’ pristine waters have been infiltrated by a new enemy – the lionfish. This invasive species, whose natural habitat is the Pacific Ocean, has been populating the sea around Cayman at an unprecedented rate. If left unchecked, the impact on the local ecosystem could be devastating.
But a small group of local businesses and dive companies have banded together to tackle the lionfish problem, with the aim of eventually managing rather than eliminating the population.

Jason Washington, owner of Ambassador Divers and one of the driving forces behind the initiative, believes lionfish are the most significant threat facing Cayman’s underwater world. Lionfish, which have no natural predator in the Atlantic Ocean, are ravenous eaters, feasting on Cayman’s species of juvenile fish. The reproductive capability of the lionfish is such that the current threat facing the Caribbean can be traced back, via DNA, to two female lionfish, which were believed to have been accidentally released from an aquarium along the east coast of the United States.

“The first lionfish was spotted in the Sister Islands in early 2008,” Jason explains. “And now they are all over the reef. They’re an incredibly invasive species. Every four days, the female lionfish can produce 30,000 eggs. They destroy the balance of the ecosystem and the health of the reef.

“They are competing directly with Cayman’s endangered species for food. There is just no room for lionfish here.”

Ambassador Divers, in partnership with the Department of Environment, has been urging local divers to become certified lionfish cullers, which enables them to catch any lionfish they spot while in the water. Every two months, Ambassador Divers, in conjunction with sponsor Kirk Marine, holds a Lionfish Hunt, in which divers attempt to catch as many lionfish as they can over a two-day weekend. The first event, held in September, brought in a haul of 500 lionfish in two days.  It was a “huge success”, which Jason hopes to improve upon as the public becomes better educated about the threat of lionfish. He believes the Lionfish Hunt is beneficial on many levels, as it encourages local divers to become involved, helps to stem the lionfish population, and also enables the Department of Environment to collect extensive data on this insidious species.

“We’ll never remove all of them, but we need to get a handle on the numbers,” Jason says. “There needs to be a community push. We need to preserve the beauty of our water for future generations.”