Virgin Islands Lionfish Management Team

Virgin Islands Lionfish Management Plan

Executive Summary
The executive summary provides a list of major findings, immediate action items, and priority strategies for the next 5 years, with the overall goal for management and control being: to prevent lionfish from negatively impacting local fisheries and marine ecosystems, and endangering public safety. Also contained within the plan are specific actions for the upcoming year, a guide for addressing gaps and making advancements in lionfish control, a review of existing resources and potential funding sources, and an inventory of current activities taking place with contact information for each.

This plan is meant to be a living document with regular updates made to reflect current information and management strategies. We invite the community to comment or make suggested changes to keep the document up to date.

Virgin Islands National Park Lionfish Response Plan
A Systematic Approach to Managing Impacts from the Lionfish, an Invasive Species, in Units of the National Park System
Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/WRD/NRR—2012/497

The Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation would like to thank Red Hook Dive Center for their extensive support of CORE and the STT/STJ Lionfish Derby. This event would not be possible without their contributions. If you are in need of a dive shop, please consider patronizing RHDC for an amazing diving experience. Additionally we would like to thank our Silver Sponsors, Town and Country Marine Services, as well as Aqua Action Dive Center. Both have contributed substantially and we appreciate their support in our efforts to promote and grow lionfish hunting in the Virgin Islands. Finally, we would like to thank our Bronze Sponsors. Through their collective efforts, our Bronze Sponsors have bolstered the prize pool, allowing us to offer attractive winnings to our most successful lionfish hunters. VIPCA, Zookeeper, VI Chiropractic Health Center, The VI Cat, Neptune Adventures, and Empire Boat Charters have all helped make this event possible, and we thank them for helping us continue our mission. Please consider your future purchases, as us here at CORE would greatly appreciate your support of our sponsors.

The Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation is a nonprofit, tax exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 66-0764897) under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.