An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Evaluating Impacts and Management of Invasive Lionfish

Species invasions in marine ecosystems pose a threat to native fish communities and can disrupt the food webs that support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. In the Gulf of Mexico, densities of invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish, Pterois volitans and P. miles, are among the highest in their invaded range. In a workshop setting held over a 2-week period, we adapted an existing trophic dynamic model of the West Florida Shelf, located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to simulate the lionfish (both species) invasion and community effects over a range of harvest scenarios for both lionfish and native predators. Our results suggest small increases in lionfish harvest can reduce peak biomass by up to 25% and also that reduced harvest of native reef fish predators can lead to lower lionfish densities. This model can help managers identify target harvest and benefits of a lionfish fishery and inform the assessment and management of valuable reef fish fisheries.

海洋生态系统中的物种入侵会对本土鱼类群落构成威胁，并破坏支撑具有重要商业与休闲渔业价值的食物网。在墨西哥湾，入侵的印度-太平洋蓑鲉（Lionfish）涵盖翱翔蓑鲉（Pterois volitans）与密点蓑鲉（P. miles），其种群密度在入侵范围内位居前列。本研究依托为期两周的专题研讨会框架，对位于墨西哥湾东部的西佛罗里达陆架现有营养动力学模型进行改造，以模拟两种蓑鲉的入侵过程及其群落效应，并覆盖蓑鲉与本土捕食鱼类的多种捕捞情景。研究结果显示，小幅提升蓑鲉捕捞量可使峰值生物量降低至多25%；同时，降低本土礁栖鱼类捕食者的捕捞量，也可实现蓑鲉种群密度的下降。该模型可协助管理者明确蓑鲉渔业的目标捕捞量与收益，并为具有高价值的礁栖鱼类渔业的评估与管理提供决策依据。