In recent years, due to the rise in the Mediterranean’s temperature (1.5 degrees Celsius since 1980), a large number of lionfish from the Pacific and Indian Oceans have entered through the Suez Canal, as the current sea temperature allows them to survive and reproduce in areas that were previously too cold for them.
Their rapid reproduction (a single female can produce 2 million eggs in one year) can upset the balance of the ecosystems they inhabit, as they take over fish nests, eat the eggs, and dangerously reduce endemic fish populations, which do not recognize this species and have not learned to protect themselves, while its venomous spines deter any predator.
In 2010, it appeared in Cyprus; in 2012, in Rhodes, Kasos, and Gavdos; and since 2022, it has been detected in Chalkidiki and the coasts of Thrace.
To slow its spread, divers organize hunting competitions off the coast of Cyprus, several companies have developed robots to hunt it, and engineers have even designed traps to capture it.
Other researchers have proposed creating a barrier in the Suez Canal that would limit the further invasion of non-native species, but lionfish have already established themselves in the Mediterranean.
According to scientists, however, the most sustainable solution for controlling them is to incorporate them into the daily diet and to provide incentives for fishermen to catch them on a large scale. Nevertheless, although very tasty, most Mediterranean peoples (including Greeks) are not familiar with it, resulting in low demand.
What is fyi.news?
