The sightings of lionfish in Belize are on the rise recently. Within the Glover's Reef Marine Reserve there have been 5 sightings of this invasive species, and 3 captures. The lionfish is a very sneaky hunter and drifts silently towards its prey. Studies claim that the lionfish can grow to an average of 15 inches and reaches sexual maturity at the size of 6 - 7 inches. When it is sexually mature it produces 2 egg balls of about 15,000 eggs that are fertilized by the male; these turn into larvae in a few days. A lionfish has been observed eating up to 20 fishes in 30 minutes.

The first lionfish was caught by Jesus A. Pena, a traditional fisherman of Trial Farm who uses the Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, in about 30 feet of water on March 23^rd, 2009. This was the first lionfish caught by spear. The other two lionfish were caught by Ralph Flores and Off The Wall Dive Center, of Long Caye, Glover's Reef Atoll. The second fish was caught by the aid of a net on April 24^th, 2009 on Long Caye Wall at a depth of 60 feet while scuba diving. The length of this fish was 11 inches. The third fish was caught on July 9^th, 2009 on Middle Caye Wall at a depth of 62 feet while scuba diving. The length of this fish was 5 inches. The photograph is courtesy Kendra Schofield, Off The Wall Dive Center.

Lobster season opened on June 15^th and CPUE data show that over 2,275 lbs of lobster were extracted from within the General Use Zone of the Glover's Reef Marine Reserve (GRMR). These lobster products were collected by 12 different fishing vessels which had a total of about 60 fishermen. These fishermen also collected about 1,835 lbs of conch and an undetermined amount of commercial finfish products.

Turtle Nesting at Glover's

Turtle nesting season began in April 2009 and it has been a sad year because we have only seen one nest thus far on GRMR. Alex Argeta from Isla Marisol on South West Caye reported that on July 6^th, 2009 a turtle came up on South West I Caye and laid a nest. Ms. Eck and Mr. Cantun, Manager and Biologist respectively for GRMR, went and confirmed that this was indeed a turtle nest. The nest is of a Hawksbill Turtle and unfortunately 8 of these eggs have already been destroyed by the dogs on the island. The upside is that Mr. Argeta assisted in making the turtle nest deeper since the turtle laid its nest very close to the surface, hence the reason why the dogs were able to get to the turtle eggs. Reports were also received that 6 other turtles attempted to nest between June 26^th, 2009 and July 6^th, 2009 but unfortunately the dogs from these islands scared the turtles off and nesting was unsuccessful. Three turtle nesting attempts were on South West Caye I and three were on South West Caye II. We would like to thank stakeholders for helping us monitor these species.

Lighthouse Damages Reef

An unfortunate incident that caused damage to the coral reef occurred on May 29^th, 2009 around the Northern Lighthouse within the GRMR. While on a routine patrol Ms. Eck and Mr. Cantun came upon a lighthouse structure sitting upon the reef. Investigations revealed that the Belize Port Authority contracted Mr. Gustavo Chan Highrister to change the lighthouse structure in the Northern portion of the Glover's Reef Marine Reserve and upon dismantling the old structure, he let it fall on the nearby reef. A damage assessment was done by Ms. Eck, which revealed that up to $19,980 US in damages occurred, with $6,993 US in core damages. The parties responsible were told to remove the structure from the reef but to date it has not been removed. Photographs are courtesy Ms. Eck.