KEEP OUT

Burmese Python, nonnative to Florida. Photo: Kevin Enge, FWC. Below: Guy Harvey with a full spear of lionfish. Opposite: Speared lionfish. Photo: FWC.

social media sites about lionfish control, and 60 Minutes even did a story. Lionfish, along with Burmese pythons, are known as non-native invasive species, meaning they somehow were moved from their native habitats and ended up where they’re not welcome. The state of Florida is dealing with a hoard of relentless invaders—both of the animal and plant variety. Take the Gambian pouched rat. Please. It’s the world’s largest rat— bigger than most cats—and it’s settled in Florida, far from its home country of If you’ve been even slightly conscious during the past few years, you’ve noticed an abundant amount of press devoted to the notorious Gambia, Africa. These rats came to our shores because, believe it or not, some folks imported them as pets. Back in 2004, eight of the critters lionfish. Let’s just say that the venomous- escaped from a breeding facility in the Florida Keys and spined fish has gotten more attention than the latest established their own little rodent community. Now, Star Wars movie. The world has taken note, and now Grassy Key has a population of big, fat African rats, there’s a lionfish cookbook, several websites dedicated although it’s not something you’ll likely find in their to tracking their every move, countless videos and tourism brochures.

Fortunately, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is hot on the trail of the rat pack. In fact, the agency has been trapping and monitoring them via remote cameras since 2005, hoping that a small population doesn’t immigrate into other parts of the state. Yep, it’s just another day in the life of the FWC’s invasive species unit. Their mission: to manage alien creatures in Florida. It’s no small task.

The reason lionfish and pythons have grabbed most of the headlines is because they’re very good at breeding (seriously, bunnies could take note). Unlike, say, the ashy gecko, a tiny, grayish critter from Cuba that was first discovered in Key West in 1922. Even after nearly a century of hiding out in Florida, there are only a few ashies around and they’re all in the Keys. Their population is even thought to be declining. So, not all trespassers threaten to unbalance the sensitive eco-system. At least that’s some good news.

In total, hundreds of non-native plants and animals have taken up illegal residency in Florida. Some were introduced on purpose—for example, pets released by owners who no longer wanted to care for them—while other species were accidentally introduced, like the Cuban tree frog, which arrived as a hitchhiker on cargo shipments. Many seem to have an uncanny, almost Houdinilike, ability to escape from their owners, research labs or zoos. Looking at a list of non-native mammals in Florida reads like the docket from the county jail.

Crab eating macaque: escaped from Miami-Dade research facility

Squirrel monkey: escaped from tourist attraction

Prairie Dog: escaped from owner (who owns a prairie dog anyway?)

Gambian pouched rat: escaped from a breeding facility. Was last caught on camera robbing a convenience store (I made that part up)

The point here is that the FWC is keeping up with the myriad reptiles, mammals, amphibians and both fresh and saltwater fish that are not locals. Just the list of non-native birds has more than 50 species on it.

“Yes, there are a lot of non-native species in Florida,” said Carli Segelson, of the FWC’s Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, “and they’re a very high priority to the agency because a lot of them compete with native wildlife for habitat and food sources. Also, some, like pythons, are a threat to pets or even humans. So, we take the issue very seriously.”

With all of the non-natives, the state occasionally gets the extreme types of invasive species. When that happens, the problem escalates from a nuisance into all out havoc. Which brings us back to lionfish and pythons.

We all know the story. Lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific, have spread from South Florida up the East Coast of the U.S. and throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean. They don’t have natural predators in these waters and they can produce on average 30,000 eggs per spawn and can spawn as often as every two to three days. So, like three million eggs per year. Of the many dangers they present, eating our precious juvenile fish, including commercially important species such as grouper, gets fishermen fired up. Fortunately, we have mobilized our ground troops and are on the hunt.

Even though there’s a strong grassroots movement to beat back lionfish, the FWC has stepped up to help push the ball along. The agency has dedicated huge resources to lionfish removal and awareness, and in 2015, they organized LRAD, the first Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day. It’s the first Saturday after Mother’s Day each year. During the event, a dozen locations around the state held lionfish tournaments and several thousand of the fish were harvested in two days. The headquarters of the event was in Pensacola where eight local chefs prepared lionfish in fabulously tasty ways, from tacos to ceviche. More than 3,000 people, including Guy Harvey himself, showed up to munch on lionfish and help educate the public.

If you want to know how serious the FWC is, they have a whole program focused on lionfish, led by Meaghan Faletti, whose title is, aptly, lionfish outreach coordinator. Meaghan travels the state supporting and participating in tournaments, putting on seminars and pursuing the best path to controlling this invader. And while she and thousands of scuba divers are doing their part to put a dent in the population, there are places where lionfish dwell too deep for divers

Left: Inside of Team Frapper’s prototype lionfish-specific trap called the “Frapper Trap” during research at the FIT Marine Lab in Vero Beach, Florida. Photo: Team Frapper. Right: FWC officer and media watch as Jeff Fobb demonstrates capture technique. Photo: Officer Jorge Pino, FWC.

to penetrate. That’s why researchers and entrepreneurs are working on traps and other innovative gear that will attract only lionfish and not valuable game fish. Progress is being made but the perfect trap has not yet arrived.

“Florida’s diving community has joined forces to try to control lionfish populations on a statewide scale. These efforts have certainly been effective, especially in shallow and accessible waters,” said Faletti. “However, the deeper, less accessible reefs present greater challenges. Some groups have been creating and testing innovative gear designs that might be able to harvest lionfish populations at greater depths past recreational diving limits.”

Efforts to battle the Burmese python have been a bit more problematic than the war on lionfish. First of all, they’re in the Everglades, a hot, dangerous and gnarly place to penetrate. Not quite the same appeal as hopping on a boat for a day of scuba diving to hunt and gather your dinner. And while the first Python Challenge™ the FWC organized in 2013 yielded just 68 snakes from January 12 to February 10, the agency was pleased with the results.

“We were happy about it because it was the largest amount of snakes harvested in a similar time period,” Segelson said. “Plus, the data we gathered was extremely helpful. One of the things we learned was that people who were trained to catch pythons had a significantly better chance of capturing them. So as we ramp up for the next year’s Python Challenge™, we’re offering expanded training opportunities, including in-person trainings that teach people how to identify, report and safely capture Burmese pythons. We’re hoping this will help make the success rate higher.”

The event also garnered huge media buzz and created mass awareness about the python problem in the Everglades. “We received worldwide attention,” Segelson said. “And now we’re able to get more people involved, not just in the competition but also with outreach, social media and reporting to our hotline.” People can help by photographing and reporting sightings of Burmese pythons and other invasives to the FWC’s Exotic Species Hotline at 1-888-IveGot1 (1888-483-4861), online at IVEGOT1.org, or by using the free smart phone app IVEGOT1. The FWC also has an Exotic Pet Amnesty Program where events are held periodically around the state to provide the opportunity for people to surrender their exotic pets free of charge with no penalties. The Exotic Pet Amnesty Program is an effort to reduce the number of nonnative species being released into the wild by pet owners who can no longer care for their pets or no longer wish to keep them.

Another “challenge” with pythons is that they’re known as cryptic species because they are so well camouflaged and hard to see. Some of the participants reported that they would be standing right over a snake and not even see it at first. By contrast, lionfish will float idly by without even so much as a flinch as their brothers and sisters are being skewed by a spear just inches away. They’re such an easy target for spear-fishermen that one diver can get 50 or even 100 fish on a single dive.

Whether it’s a Mexican spinytail iguana, a suckermouth catfish, a red-bellied squirrel or the many other creatures that have descended on Florida, the FWC is in an all-out effort to keep our land and water invader free and to ensure that Florida retains its title as the Fishing Capital of the World for many generations to come.