Mote to hold second annual Lionfish Derby

Mote Marine Laboratory with ZooKeeper and Reef Environmental Education Foundation will host the second annual Lionfish Derby from July 10 to 12.

Participants in the three-day competition will collect and remove lionfish from the Gulf of Mexico by scuba diving and snorkeling. Teams who catch the most lionfish, the biggest lionfish and the smallest lionfish will receive cash prizes.

Lionfish, which are covered in venomous spines, are an invasive species to the Gulf and are ecologically disruptive. They are a major threat to Florida’s native species and are predators of more than 70 species of fish and crustaceans. In some areas, they caused the decline of fish populations by 90 percent. The only predators to lionfish are humans.

If you go:

When:  8 p.m. Friday, July 10 to 10 a.m. Sunday, July 12

Where: Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway.

Cost is $40 per team member

Registration is required at mote.org/lionfishderby