First Lionfish Derby scheduled for Broward County Hosted by 15th Street Fisheries and Lauderdale Marina
6/19/2012
Credit:
Nauticom Communications release
First Lionfish Derby scheduled for Broward County Hosted by 15th Street Fisheries
and Lauderdale Marina
On Saturday, June 30, 2012, 15th Street Fisheries and Lauderdale Marina will host
the area's first-ever Lionfish Derby to assist in eradicating lionfish from the
reefs of South Florida and help raise public awareness about this devastating problem
to our underwater ecosystem. The lionfish is a predatory, non-indigenous, aquatic
species with no natural predators and a large appetite for native fish and crustaceans.
This event will also help raise funds for Reef.org, a non-profit organization set
up to provide information and education about oceanographic sciences.
The Lionfish Derby is a one-day team competition whose goal is to collect as many
lionfish as possible during daylight hours using a variety of capture methods including
SCUBA, free diving, or snorkeling off the coast.
Cash prizes ($3,500 total) will be awarded to the teams with the greatest number
of fish collected as well as the largest and the smallest lionfish caught. In
addition,
all winners will receive a $50 gift certificate from Divers Direct.
A "captain's meeting" will be held on Friday, June 29th for registration pickups
and orientation. Teams and spectators will be taught how to properly collect and
handle these venomous fish and discover why they are detrimental to our ocean's
ecosystem.
During the awards party directly following the Derby on Saturday, June 30th,
participants
will be treated to a delicious lionfish appetizer prepared by Lenny Judice, Executive
Chef at 15th Street Fisheries and educated about the development of the commercial
lionfish market.
The Fort Lauderdale Derby, part of a series in south Florida, will help draw media
attention to the Atlantic lionfish invasion and be educational and fun. Specimens
collected during the Derby support ongoing lionfish research and are provided to
a number of government and university research partners.
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For more information about this event or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Kitty McGowan or Julie Sack of NautiCom Communications, at 954-523-1004 or
julie@teamnauticom.com
15th Street Fisheries is a landmark restaurant located within Lauderdale Marina
on the Intracoastal Waterway near the 17th Street Causeway bridge and Port
Everglades
inlet. The restaurant, in its 34th year of continuous operation, was recently
voted "Best Waterfront Restaurant in South Florida" in a Sun-Sentinel readers'
poll.
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Click Here to Register Today!
[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001hU-slVgxUWQTAk3gP_cSCLSmPWKkn-wSlBDFTZ_bcm0q_vhPL4ErIZRgXNVKiXGu6aBxy2O6CZnf19me2Warw2xxgO_Vsr9xXfAicfLd_MErLUvbSx4y_5eFrJ-1Ja1514ZBZpBMKL89NWpaD9g6Egr1fE4FlkRd]
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Event Sponsors
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Schedule of Events
Friday, June 29, 2012:
5:30 - 6:30 pm: Late registration at derby location
6:30 pm: Captain's Meeting* at Lauderdale Marina
*Captain's Meeting is mandatory for the team captains, and all team members are
encouraged to attend. There will be a briefing on safe collection and handling
procedures for lionfish.
*Each member of the team must fill out a liability waiver and submit it before
or during the Captain's Meeting.
Saturday, June 30, 2012:
Sunrise: Teams may begin collecting lionfish.
5:00 pm: All lionfish must be turned in to the scoring station at the Derby location
at Lauderdale Marina.
5:00 - 7:00 pm: Scoring, social and lionfish tasting open to the public.
7:00 - 7:30 pm: Raffle and awards ceremony.
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For more information on this event contact:
NautiCom Communications
Association and Event Management
Kitty McGowan and Julie Sack
Phone: 954-523-1004
Email:julie@billfishtournament.com
