Lionfish Management Program

Turning invasive into impact through inversa’s integrated lionfish management program

Invasive lionfish are among the most destructive marine invaders in the world, capable of reducing native juvenile reef fish populations by up to 79% within just weeks of establishing themselves in a new area. Their unchecked spread across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean has devastated coral reef ecosystems, threatening fisheries, biodiversity, and coastal resilience. However, research shows that with consistent management, native biodiversity in lionfish-managed zones can rebound by 50–70% (Green et al.).

INVERSA has built a regenerative supply chain model to address this crisis head-on. In partnership with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), and Conservation International, INVERSA launched a multi-country lionfish removal program in Mexico, Colombia, Belize, and Florida. The program merges economic opportunity with ecological restoration, creating long-term incentives for local communities to protect their reef ecosystems by targeting one of their greatest threats.

Through deep partnerships with fishing cooperatives, local governments, and conservation agencies, INVERSA has helped establish and scale professional lionfish harvesting operations. In Mexico, INVERSA worked closely with CONANP (Mexico’s Commission of Natural Protected Areas) to secure a rare special permit authorizing lionfish hunting within the Banco Chinchorro Marine Protected Area (MPA). This enabled the launch of coordinated lionfish derbies in the MPA, with CONANP supporting event execution and operating official weigh stations.

In Belize and Colombia, INVERSA helped local fishers formalize and expand lionfish hunting into a viable source of income, offering fair pricing, stable demand, and access to new markets. The result is an ecosystem-scale intervention that both restores coral reefs and strengthens community resilience.

INVERSA’s lionfish work exemplifies what becomes possible when conservation is not just an environmental mandate, but an economic engine. By aligning local livelihoods with ecosystem recovery, INVERSA is proving that invasive species management can be regenerative, scalable, and profoundly impactful.