The lionfish culling program in Sint Eustatius island, dutch caribbean

Lionfish impacts are highly negative (directly or indirectly) on native populations and the entire Caribbean ecosystem.Since December 2010, when the first lionfish was sighted, STENAPA marine park staffs are actively culling lionfish at different dive sites in and out of both marine reserves
Does the culling program significantly reduce the lionfish population in St Eustatius? The aims of this question are: (i) to prove the efficiency of the removal effort, while describing any evolution of the lionfish population, (ii) to bring out the site where it is necessary to focus the culling program, (iii) to make recommendations to improve the efficiency of the current culling program.
What can we learn with the culling program data about the lionfish and its behavior? This second part aims to learn more about the lionfish on Statia and to compare the results with other data due to (i) the identification of the diet composition and feeding behavior of the lionfish by analyzing their stomach content and (ii) the determination of the size distribution of the lionfish on Statia.

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