New research represents one of the first studies to examine the effectiveness of targeted lionfish removals from both an ecological and a socio-economic perspective.

However, if they are to really be successful they need to be combined with better long-term monitoring by communities and conservationists to ensure their timing and location achieve the best results.

Those are the key findings of a new study, one of the first of its kind to examine the effectiveness of targeted lionfish removals from both an ecological and a socio-economic perspective.

Scientists working as part of the European Union-funded RELIONMED project teamed up with specially trained divers and citizen scientists to conduct a series of removal events and surveys over a six-month period.

Focussed on three marine protected areas on the coast of Cyprus — the Zenobia shipwreck off Larnaca, and two popular diving sites within the Cape Greco Marine Protected Area — between 35 and 119 lionfish were removed per day by divers at each protected site.

Those sites were then monitored by divers over several months which showed that, in some locations, population numbers recovered within three months.

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Plymouth. Original written by Alan Williams. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.