“So you have to create another way to sustain it in the long term,” Malpica-Cruz says. If a species is beneficial for the economy while causing little or no harm to the environment, managers may choose a sustainable fishery approach to keep the species at healthy levels over the long term.īut for invasive species like lionfish whose damage to the ecosystem can far outweigh any benefits from fishing it, there are few options other than an economically unsustainable fishery that aims to reduce its population as much as possible. Not all exotic species affect ecosystems negatively. To establish such a goal, managers need to ponder damages versus benefits. In the Cozumel case, the goal was not clear, or at least it was not clearly communicated to the fishers, he tells Mongabay. Whether it’s to eradicate the invader or to create an economic alternative for local people, stakeholders should be well aware of it. Luis Malpica-Cruz, an oceanographer and marine ecologist at the Oceanographic Research Institute of the Autonomous University of Baja California, Mexico, who co-authored the studies, stresses the importance of being transparent with fishers from the start about the goal of targeting a nonnative species. Somehow the people who engaged the most were economically damaged by their own success, two recent studies point out. But they missed the additional income, especially during the lobster seasonal closure. Luckily, the Cozumel cooperative could count on the spiny lobster and other steadier catches, so its members could remain in business. But as their new quarry declined, the market that fishers had built vanished with it. Over three years, scientists saw a 60% decrease in the species along the coral reef. There, a fishers’ cooperative embraced the mission, targeting lionfish and selling them to local and U.S. Studies show that one of the most successful endeavors to reduce lionfish numbers took place on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. Similar initiatives have sprung up across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched “Eat Lionfish,” an awareness campaign bringing together fishers, wholesalers and chefs. Among the first efforts, in 2010 the U.S. Authorities there have pushed to create fishing pressure on lionfish (genus Pterois), delicate-looking but venomous Indo-Pacific predators that have wreaked havoc on local food webs. Some important lessons may come from the western Atlantic, an ocean away from the Mediterranean. “It requires the same careful planning as any other management tool.” Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) who, in 2014, co-authored a popular paper on the subject. “Harvest has potential but it’s not a magic bullet,” says Jason Goldberg, a biologist with the Science Applications program of the U.S. But some scientists warn that the slogan “If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em” doesn’t always offer a straightforward solution because it involves balancing so many considerations: fishers’ interests, markets, government policy and conservation. In fact, it is well appreciated along the western Atlantic, where it is native and makes up an important fishery. Most comments under these posts argue that eating the crabs is the best way to deal with this highly fecund and voracious species. In the past two decades, warming waters have helped those that thrive at higher temperatures find welcoming conditions.Īlthough accurate data on their abundance are lacking, in late summer months, sightings of blue crabs along the Italian coastline have crowded Facebook groups dedicated to exotic species. Since 1869, the human-made Suez Canal has represented the major pathway for the arrival of species that otherwise would probably have never reached this semi-enclosed sea. Some were introduced for aquaculture purposes. Some might have arrived in ships’ ballast waters others might have been released from aquariums. Italy, 2023.Īt the crossroads of the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, the Mediterranean Sea is currently home to more than 750 nonnative species. Catching blue crabs in Lesina Lagoon, Italy.
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