11 October 2013: The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) announced that the Regional Lionfish Committee (RLC), also known as Ad Hoc Committee for the Caribbean Regional Response to the Lionfish Invasion, has coordinated the development of a regional Strategy to guide action by stakeholders concerned with, and impacted by, the lionfish invasion.

Through the release of lionfish in Atlantic waters, the fish have become established as a problematic invasive species threatening coral reefs and their biodiversity in Bermuda, Florida (US), the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Central America and northern South America. The draft Strategy, developed by members of the RLC and key lionfish experts who met in Puerto Rico from 3-6 September 2012, seeks to facilitate collaboration among governments and relevant stakeholders; encourage coordinated research and monitoring efforts; and control lionfish invasions through regionally coordinated methods.

The RLC was established in November 2010 by the ICRI and is the result of the combined efforts of the UN Environment Program – Caribbean Environment Program (UNEP- CEP) and its Regional Activity Center for the Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife of the Cartagena Convention (SPAW-RAC), and partners. [Publication: Regional Strategy for the Control of Invasive Lionfish in the Wider Caribbean] [ICRI Press Release]