NURP Funded Project Featured on NOAA Website Home
Page
This story entered on 24th May, 2004 08:21:33 AM PST
NOAA's home page on www.noaa.gov
is featuring an article this week entitled "NOAA scientists hunt
for 'lions' in the Atlantic: venomous invasive fish can be dangerous
to divers and deepwater fishermen". This project exemplifies
the type of management-driven research that NURP funds in support
of NOAA's management needs.
This summer NOAA scientists at the NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries
and Habitat Research funded by the NURP Center at the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington will be conducting field studies
to examine the status of the lionfish population and examine life
history characteristics to determine the risk of lionfish to Alantic
Coast Ecosystems. The lionfish, a venomous coral reef fish, is native
to the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans and was introduced to the
U.S. east coast in the mid 1990s. Lionfish are believed to pose
particular risks to the local environment and divers and fishermen.
They are voracious predators that feed not only on small shrimps,
but also on large fish, perhaps including the young of important
commercial fish species.
More information: Click
Here
Contact information
Name: Andy Shepard
Tel: (910) 962-2441
sheparda@uncwil.edu
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