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2018 Lionfish Summit Report

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2018 Lionfish Summit Report 2018 Lionfish Summit October 2-4, 2018 Cocoa Beach, Florida Hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Table of Contents Media and Resources…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………. 2 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………… 3 Theme I: Policy and Regulations……………………………………………………………..……………………..…….….. 6 Theme II: Control Efforts/Research and Monitoring………………………………………………………..……… 11 Theme III: Outreach and Education…………………………………………………………………………………..……. 18 Future Directions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…… 23 Appendix A: Lionfish Summit Agenda……………………………………………………………………………….……. 24 Appendix B: Presentation Abstracts…………………………………………………………………………………….…. 28 Appendix C: iClicker Survey Results……………………………………..…………………..………….…………………. 65 Appendix D: Evaluations…………………………………………………………………………………….…………………… 66 Appendix E: Attendee List………………………………………………………………………………………………….…… 67 Appendix F: FWC Lionfish Program Overview 2014 – 2018……………………………….……………………. 72 1 | P a g e Media and Resources ▪ View photos in the Lionfish Summit Flickr album. ▪ Live video footage broadcast by the Florida Channel: o 10/02/18 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lionfish Summit o 10/03/18 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lionfish Summit Part 1 o 10/03/18 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lionfish Summit Part 2 ▪ Video recordings of the oral presentations are available upon request by contacting [email protected]. ▪ Visit MyFWC.com/Lionfish or FWCReefRangers.com for agency information and lionfish resources. ▪ Additional questions? Contact the Division of Marine Fisheries Management at 850-487-0554. 2 | P a g e Introduction Background The invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles complex) were first reported offshore Broward County, Florida in 1985 and are now well established in the western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was one of the lead organizations to act by initiating procedures to evaluate the extent of the invasion, developing outreach and awareness messaging, removing potential regulatory barriers to removal, supporting control efforts, and implementing removal incentive programs. The FWC lionfish program was created within the Division of Marine Fisheries Management in 2014 and has grown significantly in four years. A complete summary of FWC’s lionfish outreach and control programs can be found in Appendix F. The FWC initiated the development of a statewide Lionfish Control Plan following an internal staff meeting in 2012 and the 2013 Lionfish Summit. The Lionfish Control Plan was completed in March 2018 and includes background information regarding the lionfish invasion, FWC’s past and current involvement, and identified action items for the future of lionfish control in Florida. The document is available upon request by contacting [email protected]. Mission Statement The FWC will minimize the adverse impacts of lionfish in Florida through prevention, detection, and control by applying agency resources; providing leadership through guidance, planning, and coordination; and empowering stakeholders and partners. Desired Future Conditions A Florida where; 1. The lionfish population is controlled so there are minimal negative impacts to species and habitats; 2. The public knows about the negative ecological and social impacts of lionfish and is knowledgeable about what to do when they encounter them; 3. The FWC is exercising leadership and co-manages lionfish collaboratively with sister agencies, non-government organizations, and stakeholders; 4. Stakeholders are engaged and empowered to implement appropriate management actions; 5. Stakeholder influence leads to political and financial support for a broad and adaptive suite of management actions; and, 6. Presence of lionfish causes minimal negative economic impacts. 2018 Lionfish Summit Introduction The FWC hosted the second Lionfish Summit at the Hilton Oceanfront in Cocoa Beach, Florida on October 2-4, 2018. The goal of the 2018 Lionfish Summit was to assess the efficacy of current research, management, control, and outreach efforts; prioritize areas for future lionfish control; and improve collaboration among multiple agencies and geographic locations. The Summit was facilitated by Dr. James Perran Ross from Rocky Point Consulting. Dr. Ross’ expertise in facilitation, strategic development, and conflict resolution on wildlife management topics, conservation planning and policy was vital in the execution of a successful event. 3 | P a g e To accomplish the identified goals and achieve desired outcomes, the following were invited to provide comment: resource managers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, members of recreational and commercial sectors, and other stakeholders involved in lionfish policy, control, and/or education. The Summit was attended by 121 people and participants were primarily affiliated with one of the following categories: commercial industry, government, non-government organization, research, or unaffiliated stakeholder (Figure A). The Summit featured a total of 36 presentations, including 22 oral presentations and 14 poster presentations (Appendix B). Invited oral and poster presentations were categorized into one of three themes: Policy and Regulation, Control Efforts/Research and Monitoring, or Outreach and Education. The presentations served to inform participants of the current efforts throughout Florida and the invaded region. Attendee Affiliation 3% 20% Commercial Industry Government 36% Non-Government Organization 15% Research Stakeholder 26% Figure A. Affiliations of the 121 people that attended the 2018 Lionfish Summit. Jim Estes, Deputy Director of the FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management, opened the Summit with a brief background on the role of the FWC throughout the lionfish invasion and the importance of continued FWC partnerships with universities, organizations, and stakeholders for continued control of lionfish in the invaded range. Estes challenged Summit attendees to place a critical eye to current efforts for controlling the lionfish invasion, both within and outside of the FWC, and define the collective meaning of success as related to the desired future outcomes. While acknowledging the various opinions for achieving the desired future condition of lionfish in Florida, Estes emphasized immense progress achieved by the lionfish community in policy and regulation, outreach and education, control efforts, research and monitoring, and development of the commercial market. William Patterson, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, delivered the keynote presentation for the Lionfish Summit. Patterson has been on the forefront of lionfish research within Florida and his research has primarily focused on population trends, ecological impacts, and the potential mitigation of lionfish throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Patterson has used a variety of 4 | P a g e methods to address his research questions and the results have led to advancements in the knowledge of the lionfish invasion and direction of future research. Using scuba divers and remotely operated vehicles, Patterson has conducted long-term monitoring efforts on natural and artificial reef habitats to evaluate the effects of lionfish presence and abundance on native reef fish communities. Recent plateaus and even declines in lionfish populations suggest that factors such as density dependence, lionfish cannibalism, and the appearance of an ulcerative skin disease may be providing some measure of natural control. In his concluding remarks, Patterson highlighted the needs for future research in the efficiency of innovative removal methods, such as modified traps, in habitat beyond recreational scuba diving depths (>130’) as well as continued monitoring of lionfish and native fish population dynamics throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Following the welcome address and keynote speaker, the Summit proceeded with oral presentations and panel discussions for each of the three themes: Policy and Regulation, Control Efforts/Research and Monitoring, and Outreach and Education. Poster presentations were featured during the Lionfish Social held the first evening. The final day consisted of three independently- facilitated discussion groups for each theme of the Summit, with stakeholders assigned to a group based on their interests and expertise. Each group was presented with two questions to guide the discussion and tasked to develop and prioritize potential action items for each. The following report represents a comprehensive overview of the 2018 Lionfish Summit and its outcomes. 5 | P a g e Theme I: Policy and Regulations The policy and regulations theme reviewed processes and management actions implemented by state and federal agencies to address the lionfish invasion and mitigate their impacts on native species and habitats. State and federal agencies have sought to remove potential barriers for lionfish harvest by adopting policies that encourage involvement and make it easier for stakeholders to understand and contribute to removal efforts. At the state level, the FWC’s goal to encourage removal efforts was addressed by removing the requirement to possess a recreational saltwater fishing license when harvesting lionfish with approved or lionfish-specific gear, removing the recreational default bag limit, and allowing scuba divers using a rebreather apparatus to harvest lionfish. The FWC
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