12-year-old concerned about lionfish threatening BVI tourist product
Robert Issac - Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Dear Editor,
My name is Robert Isaac. I’m 12 years old. I attend the JVD Secondary school and I am in Form 2. I live on JVD and was born here in the BVI.
I am part of the new Jr. divers club formed by the JVD Preservation society. I learnt about the lionfish problem about 3 years ago from the Preservation society. I am writing this letter to raise awareness of lionfish.
Lion fish are a big problem to the Caribbean. First of all, they are not native to the Caribbean. They were brought here when an aquarium in Florida,near the sea, was destroyed. The water from the aquarium drained into the sea. Only 6 lionfish were in the aquarium and they are responsible for the big population of lionfish today.
Second of all, since they are not native to the Caribbean, they have no predators here. They are overeating our tiny reef fish that are responsible for eating the algae that grows on the reef. If the lionfish keep on doing this, our reefs will look pale and unappealing.
People reading this should care because if this keeps up it will make a big impact on the BVI’s tourism. No tourist will snorkel at a beach that has unappealing coral reefs.
If we have no tourism we have no money, and if we have no money that takes a toll on the economy.
On January 12, 2013, some members of JVD Preservation society went to Reef Guardians in East End to get some training on how to hunt lionfish . We left at 8:00 a.m from JVD.
When we reached,they gave us a brief demonstration on what we will be using and what we will be doing. Only adults over the age of 21 can use spearguns so I couldn’t use one.
We sailed over to Beef island, set up our gear and dove. We split into two groups; one heading north and on heading south. I was in the group going south. We spotted only one lionfish which is good and bad. After 45 minutes we all caught 16 lionfish.
The JVD Preservation society and the Jr. Divers club will support Reef Guardians by making lionfish markers, hunting lionfish, etc as part of our activities. We cannot do this alone.
We need help from the community to help rid the Caribbean of lionfish.
If you want to know more or want to help out, contact Reef Guardians at
(284) 442-7783 or email them at [email protected]
Contact the JVD Preservation society at [email protected] or (284) 540-0861.
Sincerely,
Robert Isaac
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9 Comments
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When will there be a class for other to learn how to safely catch these fish…I believe they are very good to eat.
Great Job Robert, that is indeed a well written article. Teach is very proud of you boy. Keep up the good work. I am also proud of the youths of Jost Van Dyke and the J.V.D Preservation Society.
well sah. “If we have no tourism we have no money, and if we have no money that takes a toll on the economy.” This boy is smarter than the kids at BVITB. If the people running the BVITB US offices understood the importance of tourism we would have a stronger economy. I suggest Myron sends the 12 old up to New York to run he office and teach those ladies a thing or two. or three. or a lot more.
Well boy if you are only 12 and can write so good, kudos to you! Great article.
Very commendable. Well written article by this youth who seems to ready to play a big part in his community. Mr. Isaac, we look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Great piece if we don’t act these fishes will destroy everything
An excellent well written letter, I hope your passion helps with the Lionfish hunt.
Can they become a food staple? If humans learn to eat them they’ll soon be fished out
I actually saw a program on the travel channel about this last night. The program was being filmed in Jamaica. A marine biologist from the University of the West Indies is actually training local fishermen on how to catch and prepare (remove the poisonous parts) the lionfish for human consumption.
Yes for real. They eat them here in the BVI too. In jamaica, they had a campaign to promote them being eaten. The BVI has done the same
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