The first lionfish to be caught in BVI waters was landed this past week, off the western shore of Anegada.
Biologists fear that the lionfish – a non-native species with a voracious appetite for other fish and with no known predators in the Caribbean – will wreak havoc on the local marine ecosystem.
The BVI government received an $30,000 grant from the U.K.’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee earlier this year to raise awareness of the threat posed by the species and to control its spread.
To report a lionfish sighting in the British Virgin Islands, call (284) 494-5681.