Home > Explore News > Scourge of the Lionfish - NYTimes.com

Scourge of the Lionfish - NYTimes.com

Published on: 08/22/2012

About 20 years ago, one of the world's most beautiful and otherworldly fish, the red lionfish, started showing up in south Florida and the Caribbean. Now, they're a plague. Millions of them live from northeastern South America to New York, from water you can stand in down to depths of a thousand feet.

In a world where the main concern about fish is overfishing, and the main demand on fish is to feed an increasingly hungry human-dominated world, it may see odd to complain about abundance. But theirs is an abundance that produces widespread scarcity. That's because invaders from afar often crowd out or gobble a wide array of desirable natives. And as an invading saltwater fish - the lion is king.

via Scourge of the Lionfish - NYTimes.com.

Explore Similar News

About NCCOS

NCCOS delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources to sustain thriving coastal communities and economies.

Stay Connected

Sign up for our quarterly newsletter or view our archives.

NCCOS Multimedia

Visit our new NCCOS Multimedia Gallery. 

Follow us on Social

Listen to our Podcast

Check out our new podcast "Coastal Conversations"