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<\/a>A lionfish swims in a tank in the Southern Caribbean Artisanal Fishermen\u2019s Association (APACS) meeting room\u2014a reminder of the group\u2019s mission. There are now roughly 92 invasive lionfish per hectare in the Costa Rican Caribbean, and they are harming local fish populations. APACS saves live lionfish specimens for scientific study and use in educational campaigns. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n\n
<\/a>Local fisherman Andr\u00e9s Hern\u00e1ndez searches coral reefs for lionfish near his home in Punta Uva, Costa Rica. Weather permitting, members of APACS snorkel or dive each week to spear lionfish hiding in the reefs\u2019 many small caverns. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Andr\u00e9s Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s daughter, Romi, 15, floats to the surface with a speared lionfish. She received scuba certification through APACS, which offers free dive classes to students who agree to hunt lionfish and pick up trash underwater. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Dragging his catches behind him with string and a piece of metal, Andr\u00e9s Hern\u00e1ndez surveys the reef. Dive shops throughout Costa Rica\u2019s Southern Caribbean region are concerned about their bottom line as the lionfish invade reefs popular with tourists. Lionfish are rarely aggressive, but just touching one of their toxic spines can result in a painful sting. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Andr\u00e9s Hern\u00e1ndez picks through the stomach contents of dead lionfish to see the quantity and type of fish they recently ate. Hern\u00e1ndez and another APACS member are in charge of collecting and cataloguing data for every lionfish the association catches. They plan to give the data to the University of Costa Rica. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Lionfish fins dry in the sun outside of Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s house. APACS is experimenting with incorporating the lionfish into handmade crafts such as fashionable jewelry and small statues. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Fishing boats sit anchored off the coast of Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica\u2019s Southern Caribbean. Like other communities in the area, most of the town\u2019s residents rely on fishing and tourism for a living. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Crist\u00f3bal Velasco spears fish inside a nasa<\/em>, the traditional wooden fish trap used by fishermen in the Costa Rican Caribbean. Fishermen sink nasas<\/em> in deep water to ensnare lionfish, which can swim at depths of up to 300 meters. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>A fisherman tosses a lionfish into a cooler after pulling it from a nasa<\/em> off the coast of a wildlife refuge near Manzanillo, in Costa Rica. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Wilfred McDonald and Crist\u00f3bal Velasco haul nasas<\/em> on board the Sea Flower V<\/em>. Though effective at trapping lionfish, nasas<\/em> are an expensive investment; one fisherman estimates that building a single nasa<\/em> can cost up to US $400. APACS provides the traps to fishermen in exchange for their lionfish harvest, which the association saves for research or sells to restaurants. Photo by Lindsay Fendt<\/p>\n
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