Becoming King of the Lionfish to Save the Ocean

John McCain (not that one) is a professional diver who cares deeply about the health of the ocean. This year, he's channeling his love for the aquatic world into a fishing competition. A contradiction? Hardly. McCain will be competing to catch lionfish, an invasive species wreaking havoc in the Atlantic Ocean. Winning this competition means helping to restore balance to the reef.

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[triticality]

To people who are saying that what they're doing is bad, have you guys ever heard of invasive species? Thanks.

[soulshadoww]

OK, some of you people don't read or keep up with the news.  Years ago after a major hurricane in Florida several invasive lionfish, which are NOT native to the Atlantic or the Caribbean somehow got lose and made their way into the Atlantic ocean.  They bred and multiplied and multiplied and so on and so on.  Because they are NOT native to the Atlantic or Caribbean other fish have no fear of them and they get eaten at an astounding rate.  Additionally, lionfish have no natural predators in the Atlantic or Caribbean - again because they are NOT native to these oceans.  Scientists who are doing research on lionfish have discovered that they are eating so much fish that they are actually getting liver diease.  Also, they bred like water-rabbits.  They can bred two to three times a year and can fertilize  up to 2, 000 eggs at a time - you do the math.  So now can you see how they could overwhelm and destroy all of the native Atlantic and Caribbean fish.  They are making their way up the Atlantic coast and can be found as far as Massachusetts.  Many U.S. states and Caribbean islands have started allowing divers to use spears in an effort to eradicate as many as possible.  We will never fully eradicate them all because humans can only go so far down into the ocean.  Unlike many other fish, Lionfish can be found at many ocean depths so the fish that are further down cannot be eradicated.  Thankfully, people realized that they taste pretty good and now not only are the hunting them for eradication, they are hunting them to sell to restaurants and for personal consumption.  Yes, it's a shame that these fish have to be eradicated but allowing them to bred unencumbered would be vastly worse and would wipe out all of the native Atlantic and Caribbean fishes - even if man were not eating them.  We do the same thing on land with non-native bugs, plants and animals.  We as humans screw up and we as humans try to correct our mistakes.  Please people, educate yourselves before you make uninformed comments.

[YohanesNiko]

It's time to make human species-destructing ability to a good use.

[shellbacksclub]

I once caught a Lion Fish on a fishing trip and when the fishing guide gutted it, it had a living Lobster inside of it!

[handsomejohnjohn]

I am so glad that someone is clearing up this huge threat to Atlantic ecosystem. Public should aware how much damage lionfish is causing and will destroy our reef and fishes if we don't act now.

[loganalm]

Be wary, numb skulls are loose in the comment section below, and apparently have not watched the video, or understand the issue of an invasive species.Thank you and proceed if you wish.

[bradzamora]

I seriously admire what this guy is doing. Please Mr. McCain, continue to do what you do. I want these waters preserved so that my children and my children's children can look at all the wonderful biodiversity in the region. Thank you for your selflessness to this cause!

[lisozonder]

Thank you for taking care of our (underwater) world! 👍🏽

[masonkim]

they also taste good and fetch pretty high prices in restaurants. So an added bonus to hunting them.

[MetaView]

These fish are delicious. There should be a processing factory to harvest these amazing food.

[thicckirby]

Real hero here. Go get em, Mr. McCain!

[JaesadaSrisuk]

Something that’s important to remember is that pet owners (especially owners of exotic pets like fish, aquatic invertebrates, insects, reptiles, amphibians and anything like that) need to do so responsibly. I’ve heard of aquarium owners who just dump their aquariums in a river when they can’t take care of it any longer. It’s incredibly irresponsible behavior like that that leads to problems like the lionfish infestation in the Caribbean.

[AJ-zsxz]

Hello random person in the comment section! Here I welcome you to what I call "The pit of sensitive dumb people who don't understand what invasive means". Or, "The vegan pit"

[lieutenantkettch]

It's a good thing they're edible and actually taste good so selling them to markets and restaurants helps incentivize their fishing.

[sumanrajb]

These guys are the Thanos for lion fish

[benjaminclarke]

Extinction of the Lionfish helps the ecosystem

[danwatkins]

You do know you can eat them and from what I understand they're very tasty

[handsomejohnjohn]

They are so many foolish people out there not knowing how much Lionfish is causing harm to Atlantic fish and reef. Please let your friend know lionfish is the great threat to Atlantic ocean.

[soma]

A segment about the use of its meat would’ve encouraged others

[a.wilson]

There should be a cruzade against lion fish using efficient capture methods as drag them by large suction hoses into big net cages to be lifted above sea level and after send to be processed as animal food or manure.