Source: Underwater Times
July 17, 2012

"MARATHON KEY, Florida -- Divers can help capture and remove non-native lionfish from Keys waters Saturday and Sunday, July 21-22, as well as scout favorite lobster holes before the annual lobster mini season.

Sanctuary Friends Foundation of the Florida Keys has partnered with the Marathon dive community to create the two-day tournament geared toward the removal of lionfish, a popular aquarium fish believed to been introduced to Florida waters during the 1980s.

The Indo-Pacific red lionfish consumes a wide variety of prey such as invertebrates, juvenile grouper and snapper, and populations are growing rapidly in Atlantic waters, outcompeting native fish for food and territory. Lionfish have no natural reef predators except humans."

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