533 divers, one record summer: 36,187 invasive lionfish pulled from Florida's reefs

Lionfish do not belong in Florida's waters. The spiny invaders eat native reef fish and have no natural predators there — so this summer, people became the predators. In the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's annual Lionfish Challenge, 533 divers made 1,468 trips between May 22 and September 14 and removed a record 36,187 lionfish, more than 5,000 above the year before. Hunter Ledbetter of Monroe County took the Lionfish King title with 1,541 fish, and Helen Rodney of Broward County became Lionfish Queen with 1,488. Every fish removed gives native species — and the reefs they live on — a better chance to survive and thrive.

SDG 14 · Life below water — Mechanism: institutional program