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Oceanographic Center Hosts OceanGate’s
Invasive Expedition Lionfish Summit
At the end of June, the Oceanographic Center hosted OceanGate’s Invasive
Lionfish Expedition Summit to advance the scientific understanding and
awareness of the lionfish. This exotic species has invaded the Atlantic, Caribbean,
and Gulf of Mexico, and it threatens native reef ecosystems. With no natural
predators in this environment, the lionfish poses the potential of destabilizing
the local ecosystems and threatening fisheries used for food, sport, and tourism.
OceanGate created Expedition Lionfish to bring awareness of this threat to the
public and to have scientists use the OceanGate manned submersible
Antipodes
to improve their understanding of lionfish distribution and behavior, as well as
test and evaluate methods for lionfish remediation.
Lionfish
Stephanie Green, Ph.D., fromOregon State University, and Assistant Professor David Kerstetter,
Ph.D., take a ride on board the
Antipodes
.
Antipodes
is shown being deployed.
Panelists: Lionfish Invasion—Research, Outreach, and Mitigation (right to left) Dan Ellinor, FWC;
David Kerstetter, NSU; Keith Mille, FWC; Matthew Johnston, NSU; and Lad Akins, REEF
Panelist Tamara
Frank (NSU) during
“Presentation and
Discussion: Florida
Reef Conservation
and Exploration”
The summit featured panel discussions
by leading experts on aquatic invasive
species, and it was open to the public and
members of the media. Panelists included
OC faculty members
Tamara Frank
, Ph.D.;
David Kerstetter
, Ph.D.;
Charles Messing
,
Ph.D.; and OC Ph.D. candidate
Matthew
Johnston
. The event concluded with a
lionfish tasting.
OceanGate, Inc., was founded in 2009 as an
ocean exploration venture that provides
manned submersibles for research,
exploration, and commercialization. It was
established based on the assessment that
deep-sea marine initiatives would need
private industry funding to accelerate
growth and foster innovation. More on this
expedition and other projects can be found
at
