This year, CEI had a booth at Deep Creek’s Homecoming, called Conch Fest, that was geared towards promoting sustainable fisheries. The team was frying up lionfish samples, so local community members can sample the invasive fish that is abundant on the reefs, but also delicious to eat. The team was also promoting the “You slay, we pay” campaign, where fishermen can bring in lionfish, fillets or whole fish, to sell to CEI. The goal is to create a market for lionfish on Eleuthera.
Aside from free fish, the team also had a board with conservation trivia, hoping to dispel some common misconceptions. For example, do green turtles eat conch? The answer is no! Green turtles eat plant material like turtlegrass, and their serrated jaw is perfect for this type of diet.
The booth was open for two nights, and hundreds of lionfish samples were handed out. Thanks to everyone who participated, and the team enjoyed the opportunity to spread the word about the invasive lionfish and what we can do to help (Eat them!).
Members of CEI promoting sustainable fisheries at Conch Fest 2014by
Students on the lionfish team discuss their project with Dr. Stephanie Green.
Congratulations to all of the Spring 2014 Island School students who gave oral and poster presentations at the Research Symposium. This event is a culmination a semester-long research class, where students become involved in all aspects of research. It is a chance for them to showcase the data that they collected, along with real world implications of the work.
We had many special guests in attendance this semester:
David Knowles, Director of Parks, Dr. Ethan Freid, Chief Botanist, and Camilla Adair Deputy Preserve Manager at Leony Levy Preserve, the Bahamas National Trust
Dr. Andy Danylchuk, past Director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute and currently Assistant Professor of Fish Conservation at UMass Amherst, collaborator with Flats Ecology program at CEI
Dr. John Mandelman, Director of Research and Senior Scientist at the New England Aquarium, collaborator with Shark Research program at CEI
Dr. Brian Silliman, Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology at Duke Marine Lab
Fig. 1. Anglers target mahi for their strong fight, showy leaps, tasty fillets, and beautiful colors.
Dolphinfish (aka mahi mahi or dorado) are a highly sought after sportfish targeted by offshore anglers, and they also support commercial fisheries in the Caribbean and US. Until recently, little was understood about their movements, stock ranges, and population structure. Recent findings suggest that these fish complete long-distance migrations and are quick to mature. However, little information exists about dolphinfish movements or harvest in The Bahamas – a location identified by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council in critical need of further stock assessment.
Fig. 2. A tagged dolphinfish ready for release. Note the orange tag, printed with contact information for reporting a recapture of this fish.
The Cape Eleuthera Institute has been working with the Cooperative Science Services’ Dolphinfish Research Program (DRP; http://www.dolphintagging.com/) to mark dolphinfish in The Bahamas with external tags (fig. 2). After recording the fish’s size and location of capture, the fish is tagged and released to be captured again by an angler or commercial fisherman. Upon recapture, essential information such as distance travelled and growth of the fish can be determined.
Recent recaptures in the Bahamas have further demonstrated both the distances travelled by dolphinfish, as well as the large geographic range of the north Atlantic stock. One fish tagged in Florida last year was recaptured 309 days off Rum Cay in the southern Bahamas. It is estimated that the fish travelled up the East Coast of the US before swimming back to the Bahamas – a total of nearly 4,000 miles (fig. 3)!
Fig. 3 A potential dolphinfish migration route. This individual dolphinfish grew in length from 18 to 53 inches in the 309 days between initial tagging and recapture, and might have travelled nearly 4,000 miles (map courtesy of DRP).
These findings are critical to protecting the Atlantic mahi fishery. By quantifying movements of dolphinfish across political boundaries (i.e., US, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean nations), a regional management plan can be devised and enforced, ensuring a sustainable fishery for all countries.
If you will be fishing in the Bahamas and are interested in tagging dolphinfish, contact zachzuckerman@ceibahamas.org, or visit the DRPs website. Many anglers release small dolphinfish; tagging is a great way to contribute to our increasing knowledge of this economically important species!
Dolphinfish regulations in the Bahamas are not based on current stock assessments. Collecting data on recreational harvest and movements can ensure proper management of the fishery.Tag and release small dolphinfish, or those too large for you cooler. Tagging is also a great way to enjoy fishing if you have reached your limit of fish. This dolphinfish smiles at the camera as it is being released.
To date, we have had a total of 220.6 lbs of lionfish brought in for the lionfish slayer campaign. Last Wednesday, much of the lionfish was dissected and filleted for the upcoming Parents Weekend. In total, 98 fish were filleted, 65 of which were fully dissected and documented. The whole day was a huge success as a steady flow of fish were photographed, de-spined, and measured, then dissected to determine sexual maturity and stomach content, and finally filleted. One giant fish set the record for the largest yet seen and documented at CEI; it weighed in at a whopping 967 grams, or 2.13 pounds, and measured 41.5 centimeters in length.
Biggest lionfish on record for Eleuthera
By the end of the day over 80 pounds of lionfish had been filleted and ready for the kitchen to prepare for visiting Island School parents. The fins were harvested for the creation of jewelry, demonstrating the multiple ways lionfish can generate income.
The Island School’s youngest students have been able to get up close and personal with some deep sea creatures over the past couple of weeks without even setting foot in the water. Thanks to the Shark Research and Conservation Program’s deep water team at CEI and special guest researcher, 10 year-old Forrest Schmitt, the children have been getting lessons in deep water isopods. They learned facts about the super-giant isopod, Bathynomus giganteus, including that they live at depths exceeding 900m and that the largest one ever recorded had a total length of ~500mm.
The children were intrigued and inquisitive, asking many questions about the “bugs” and studying their morphology closely. They did observational drawings of the creatures that were displayed at the Parent’s Weekend Art Show. The only thing that the 3-6 year olds could not decide is whether the creatures 14 legs would cause it to “run very fast” or move “slow, slow, slow because they have to move so many legs”. They may just have to wait for footage from the team’s infamous deep-sea camera unit, the ‘MEDUSA,’ to find out.
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