COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — It's back! The Lionfish Challenge officially returned to our state.
The challenge is underway for people who want to make an environmental difference.
Lionfish are invasive predators known for eating Florida's native fish and disrupting habitat health.
Michael Sipos is a Marine Extension Agent I for UF/IFAS Extension Collier County.
He says FWC's challenge is a good idea to preserve reefs. He says without controlling the population of lionfish, we could see negative economic changes.
"A lot of these reefs are really important for people to come and visit, or they want to come and visit them because they're neat. It can damage that [ecotourism] and it can damage fisheries as well," Sipos said.
Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is encouraging anglers to catch lionfish and turn in documentation for a prize.
You can register here: FWCReefRangers.com
The requirements to qualify for prizes are as follows:
- Tier 1- Harvest 25 lionfish (recreational category) or 50 lbs of lionfish (commercial category)
- Tier 2- Harvest 75 lionfish (recreational category) or 250 lbs of lionfish (commercial category)
- Tier 3- Harvest 250 lionfish (recreational category) or 500 lbs of lionfish (commercial category)
- Tier 4- Harvest 500 lionfish (recreational category) or 1000 lbs of lionfish (commercial category)
The challenge just kicked off on June 1st and runs until October. More information on prizes will be released by FWC soon. Click here https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/challenge/ for details.
