by Vivian Tyson -SUN Senior Editor

The Department of Environmental and Coastal Resources (DECR) has advanced plans to host a year-long US$5,000 lionfish catching tournament which will be opened to everyone in the Turks and Caicos Islands, as it seeks to rid our waters of the carnivore. 

Lionfish are disastrous to marine life, as within weeks they could wipe out an entire reef system. 

In 1992, eight female lionfish escaped from an aquarium in Florida into the Atlantic and since then they have bred into millions across the region and have decimated reef life in the Bahamas by feasting on juvenile fish. 

It is the fear of the DECR environmentalists that the pest, which breeds and feeds voraciously, could have a similarly devastating impact here. 

Clerveaux, who noted that all the guidelines for the tournament have not yet been crafted, said the prize would be given to the angler who first accumulates five thousand of the species. 

“As they land them, we would collect and tabulate them, and then there will be an on-running total, every week or every month we will declare who is in the lead. And whenever that magic number is reached, that person (with five thousand catches) would be given the prize. We are now raising funds for the prize,” Clerveaux told The SUN. 

He is asking all stakeholders in the tourism industry to come on board by providing some level of sponsorship so as to jumpstart the tournament, noting also that as little as $200 could add up. According to Clerveaux, the Tourism Industry in general and the hotel sector in particular may not recognize the danger that such fish pose to the mainstay of their product. 

“This is a serious business not only for the fisherman, but it is a serious business for everybody. If we can get private donors here and there – a thousand here and a five hundred there, it would help to make this thing much more attractive. We are sending out an appeal to developers, hoteliers- people who are concerned – to help out, even if it is a two hundred dollars donation, it goes a far way. 

“And then, this competition will be opened to anybody, whether you are a fisherman, a tourist or a visitor, it doesn’t matter. It will be like an international lottery. Once you are landed, we get your number, we get your contact detail and we put you on the list,” Clerveaux explained. 

The DECR Head noted that once the prize money is in place, that department would call a news conference to officially genesis the tournament, where all competition rules will be explained followed by the declaration of the year-long event.