Wild Tobago

Fadilah Ali is an ecologist with a specialty in invasive species biology, control and management. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Science with a focus on Biodiversity and Conservation and is currently completing her PhD in Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton in England where she researched the lionfish invasion in the Southern Caribbean As a means to raise the landed value of lionfish and encourage their removal, craft makers are utilising lionfish spines, rays and tails. These materials currently being used for jewellery are typically discarded but have been found to increase the landed value of lionfish by 30 to 60% in some cases. Lionfish spines, rays and tails have been transformed into elegant earrings, necklaces, bracelets and even cufflinks and rings. In addition to encouraging lionfish removal, use of the spines and rays for jewellery can create income for local economies whilst also empowering local people. For example in Belize...

This week, Anjani Ganase, marine biologist, tells us what we need to know about the presence of lionfish on Caribbean reefs. With no natural predators in the Atlantic, lionfish feed voraciously upon juvenile fish that are essential to healthy coral reefs. Introduced carelessly in Atlantic waters, man must take on the responsibility to stem the invasion. This article was first published in the Tobago Newsday on Thursday, November 10, 2016. Follow Anjani on twitter @AnjGanase   Lionfish in its native home, the Great Barrier Reef. Photo by Richard Vevers, The Ocean Agency, XL Catlin Seaview Survey 2012. Lionfish Invasion Naturally present in the Indo-Pacific tropical waters, the lionfish is a common ornamental fish in the aquarium trade. In the 1980s, two species of lionfish - red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) and the devil firefish ( Pterois miles ) the less common of the two - were introduced into the marine waters along Florida’s east coast, a no...