How to Win Prizes for Removing Lionfish in Florida

We’re winning prizes for removing lionfish in Florida and you can too! Here’s how…

T-shirts, coffee mugs, face shields, Zookeepers, pole spears and even dive computers; the prize list for removing lionfish in Florida is seemingly endless. How can you get in on the action? It’s pretty simple, really.

The rest of this article will discuss why we need to hunt lionfish, offer a few tips on how to hunt for lionfish, and describe how you can get involved with removing lionfish in Florida while winning prizes!

Why Remove Lionfish?

But first, if you’re new to Florida, and unfamiliar with lionfish, let’s start there. Why in the hell do we need to remove lionfish from Florida’s waters, anyway?

Lionfish are an invasive species laying siege to the coral reefs and native fish populations in Florida. They’re bad news as they eat anything and everything with an insatiable appetite. And the only way to combat them is for scuba and free divers to hunt them underwater (they’re incredibly difficult to catch on line and reel and / or commercially).

Now, that’s the brief summary of what they are and why we need to hunt them. If you want more information on the matter, check out a few of our articles below:

• Why We Need to Remove Lionfish
• 8 Reasons You Should Start Hunting Lionfish
• 18 Facts Everyone Should Know About Lionfish

Hunting Lionfish

As previously mentioned, the best way to combat the lionfish invasion on our hands is to hunt them. This is best achieved by scuba divers and free divers plunging to the depths with a pole spear and a containment system.

Divers find the lionfish, prepare for a shot, shoot them and contain them before bringing the invasive species to the surface for removal. Here are a few more articles we recommend reading if you’re interested in starting to hunt for lionfish:

• Complete Guide to Hunting Lionfish
• What to Do If You Miss Your Shot Hunting Lionfish
• 11 Tips to Catch More Lionfish
• Lionfish Hunting: Everything You Need to Know

How to Win Prizes for Removing Lionfish in Florida

Now, the entire point of this article is to let you know how you can win these killer prizes (ha! See what I did there?) for removing lionfish in Florida. So, let’s cut to the chase.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is trying to incentivize the removal of this invasive species for the betterment of Florida’s environment and economy. If your coral reefs are wiped clean of native fish species, the negative chain reaction could be devastating with ripple effects all over the state.

What better way to incentive the removal than to give out some epic gear and equipment to Florida’s most hardcore divers?

It’s called the Reef Ranger Program. And it’s pretty kick ass.

Join FWC’s Reef Ranger Program

Anyone can sign up to be a Reef Ranger but you won’t start winning prizes until you submit at least 25 lionfish. When you do, you get some basic prizes like a t-shirt and can koozie (check me on that, the prizes are always changing).

Submitting Your Lionfish

If submitting a dead fish sounds odd to you, well that’s because that is odd. That’s why the FWC requires you only submit their tails.

Each tail must be fully intact with a little bit of meat left hanging to it doesn’t splay out too far. Once you’ve snipped your tails, just head to a designated checkpoint for verification (most cities have at least one dive shop serving as a checkpoint).

The prizes get better the more you kill

Prize tiers in previous years were 20 (or 25), 50, 100, 200, 300, 400 and so on. The person with the most lionfish overall wins some epic prizes as well. In the past, prizes consisted of items ranging from a Zookeeper and Neritic Pole Spear to a BCD and Dive Computer. It’s definitely worthwhile if you’re already a hunter.

At the very least, get 25 and call it good! You’ll get your T-shirt and commemorative coin.

Winning Prizes for Removing Lionfish in Florida: Debrief

We want to promote the removal of lionfish as much as possible and the FWC’s Reef Ranger Program is a great way to achieve this! Head on over to our Hunting Lionfish resource page or register for the Reef Ranger Program!