It’s Pirates Week again! For the next 11 days we remember a time when buccaneers, privateers and the like terrorised the Caribbean Sea and were the most feared and threatening figures of their era.
This year, the theme for Pirates Week is Marine Conservation and top of the agenda is, of course, the invasive red lionfish, which is the greatest threat to our seas today.
Divers and snorkellers are urged to join forces and help to fight this voracious predator that is threatening to take over our reefs.
The Department of Environment and Ambassador Divers have organised a two-day Lionfish Culling Competition over the Remembrance Day holiday long weekend, in an effort to keep their numbers down. Teams are encouraged to go out and catch and remove from the sea as many lionfish as they can.
This is the seventh competition of its kind and the last one that was held, brought in 704 lionfish, says Jason Washington of Ambassador Divers.
Culling teams must be made up of no less than two people and no more than eight, with at least one licensed lionfish culler per team. Teams are asked to register at Ambassador Divers on Sunday, 13 November, between 7.30 am and 10 am. The first 50 to register will receive a free T-shirt. They can then go off and hunt lionfish under their own steam.
“The areas that are less frequented are the ones where most lionfish will be found,” says Jason. “One of the teams that catches most lionfish do so in the canals off the North Sound.”
There will be a weigh-in at Public Beach on Sunday, 13 November, at 3 pm, when fish will be stored on ice until the next day. The second weigh in takes place on Monday, 14 November, at Palm Island in Camana Bay.
The culled lionfish will then be handed over to Chef Thomas Tennant of Michael’s Genuine, who will cook up a lionfish feast.
The feast part of the event will be open to everyone – whether they were in the competition or not. “Lionfish have a really delicious flavour, similar to snapper and it’s important that we educate people about this and create a demand,” explained Jason.
Prizes will be awarded to teams that catch the smallest, largest, greatest number of fish and greatest volume of fish caught. Among other prizes, Cathy Church will be donating underwater prints, and Ambassador Divers along with Michael’s Genuine will be offering a private dive charter (to hunt lionfish) followed by a four course lionfish extravaganza (made from their catch) at Michael’s Genuine.
An additional prize this year will be a monetary incentive: every participant will pay a ‘registration fee’ of $5 at the start of the competition. All the money collected at registration will then be given as prize money to the team that catches the most lionfish.
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