(HOBOKEN, NJ) Scarier than anything Hollywood could dream up, the predatory lionfish (Pterois miles and P. volitans) feeds from sun-up to sundown, and can eat prey up to half its body weight. Lionfish consume commercially, recreationally, and ecologically important species; and dense lionfish populations can devour more than 460,000 fish per acre, per year. On heavily invaded sites, lionfish have reduced fish populations by up to 90 percent and continue to consume the Atlantic Ocean’s native fish at unsustainable rates.

In an attempt to eradicate, or at least decrease the growing lionfish population in the Atlantic Ocean – where the lionfish has no predators to keep it from over-populating– the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Association (NOAA) along with other groups and independent scuba divers have taken on the mission to hunt down the lionfish before it takes too big a bite out of the Atlantic’s fish habitats and ecosystems. Continue reading THE LIONFISH HUNTERS- Hoboken Scuba Diver joins Mission to Eradicate Deadly Ocean Predator →