2021 Lionfish Challenge
Lionfish Challenge Removal Incentive Program
Goal: To encourage and reward recreational and commercial divers for removing lionfish from Florida waters.
The 2021 Lionfish Challenge has begun!
Goal: To encourage and reward recreational and commercial divers to remove lionfish from Florida waters.
Timeline: May 21, 2021 through September 6, 2021
Overview
- Statewide program
- Recreational and commercial participant categories
- Checkpoints located statewide for harvest submission
- Tiered prize system to encourage continued harvest
How to Qualify
- All participants required to register here
- Harvest 25 or more lionfish
Recreational Category
- Harvest 25 or more lionfish
- Submit tails to checkpoint (listed online)
- Place tails in a plastic sandwich bag(s): include harvester name, phone number, date of harvest, and number of tails.
- Complete the 2021 Lionfish Challenge Tail Submission Form and have Checkpoints stamp for verification. Checkpoints will retain bags for verification by FWC staff.
- Participant will send a copy of the 2021 Lionfish Challenge Tail Submission Form here.
Commercial Category
- Participants with active Saltwater Products License and lionfish sales within the last year will automatically be included in this category.
- Submit photo of trip tickets at here
- Trip ticket requirement: Harvester name, date of harvest, amount harvested (lbs.), and signature
- Only species code 460 (lionfish) will be accepted
Rewards
- All participants with submissions of 25 lionfish/lbs. receive:
- Commemorative coin
- Resource-based incentive: 2021 coin is valid for 1 spiny lobster per person per day in addition to the daily bag limit during the 2021 sport season (July 28-29)
- 2021 Lionfish Challenge long-sleeved performance fishing shirt
- Entry Monthly raffle
- Feature in FWC Lionfish Hall of Fame
- Commemorative coin
-
Tiers
- 25 lionfish (25 lbs) – Long sleeve, dry-fit T-shirt and commemorative coin
- 100 lionfish (200 lbs) – Customized Challenge Koozie, customized Reef Rangers 10L drybag, first aid kit, and fillet knife
- 300 lionfish (600 lbs) – ZooKeeper and neritic pole spear, and Neritic gloves
- 600 lionfish (1,200 lbs) – YETI Tundra 45 hard cooler
-
Grand Prizes
Lionfish King or Queen and Commercial Champion
- Most lionfish by count (individual only)
- Lionfish King/Queen or Commercial Champion trophy
- Feature article in FWC’s January 2021 Saltwater Regulations publication
- Featured prominently in the FWC Lionfish Hall of Fame
- HP 100 Steel SCUBA Cylinder
- $150 for SCUBA nitrox fills
2nd Place Lionfish King/Queen and 2nd Place Commercial Champion
- $100 for SCUBA nitrox fills
- Dive Rite Aircell XT steel backplate BCD
3rd Place Lionfish King/Queen and 3rd Place Commercial Champion
- GoPro HERO9 Black
- $50 for SCUBA nitrox fills
-
Raffle Drawings
- Harvesters in the Recreational and Commercial Category are eligible.
- Recreational harvesters that submit 25 lionfish and commercial harvesters that submit 25 lbs. of lionfish will receive one entry into the raffle. Additional submissions do not increase raffle entries.
- Harvesters can only win one raffle prize during the 2021 Lionfish Challenge.
- Raffle drawing dates:
- June 2nd- 2 winners
- July 7th – 4 winners
- August 4th – 4 winners
- September 1st – 2 winners
- Harvesters in the Recreational and Commercial Category are eligible.
View photos from the 2016-2020 Lionfish Challenge
2021 Lionfish Challenge Registration Form
Registration for the 2021 Lionfish Challenge is now closed
Purpose: Recreational harvesters must remove lionfish tails, place in plastic bag(s), complete the 2021 Lionfish Challenge Tail Submission Form and bring to local checkpoint for verification of harvest. Checkpoints will retain tails and send a copy of the form to Lionfish@MyFWC.com for harvest submission.
Interested in participating as a 2021 Lionfish Challenge checkpoint? Contact Lionfish@MyFWC.com for more information and instructions.
For a detailed list of checkpoints including contact information and operational hours, view the 2021 Lionfish Challenge Checkpoint Table.
Bay County
Diver’s Den
3120 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408
Dive Locker
1010 Thomas Drive, Panama City, FL 32408
Panama City Dive Center
4823 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408
Brevard County
Hatts Diving Headquarters
2006 Front Street, Melbourne, FL 32901
Broward County
Force-E Scuba Center – Pompano Beach
1312 North Federal Highway, Pompano Beach, FL 33431
No Shenanigans Diving
1324 N University Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33071
Divers Cove
2335 S University Drive, Davie, FL 33324
Dixie Divers
455 S Federal Highway, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
Charlotte County
Gaspar’s Dive N Board
2961 Placida Road #3, Englewood, FL 34224
Citrus County
Crystal River Watersports
2380 N Suncoast Boulevard, Crystal River, FL 34428
Bird’s Underwater
320 NW US Highway 19, Crystal River, FL 34428
Dixie County
Above SeaHorse
250 NE 660th Street, Old Town, FL 32680
Duval County
Atlantic Pro Divers
314 14th Ave N, Jacksonville, FL 32250
Escambia County
Dive Pros
7203 US-98, Pensacola, FL 32506
Hillsborough County
Woods and Water Scuba
24 Edwards Ave, Brandon, FL 33510
Adventure Outfitters
4316 S Manhattan Ave, Tampa, FL 33611
Lee County
Captain Pete’s Diving Outfitters
1413 Colonial Boulevard, Ft. Myers
Dean’s Dive Center, Inc.
16964 Alico Mission Way, Fort Myers 33098
Manatee County
Scuba Quest
3318 Manatee Avenue W, Bradenton, FL 34205
Martin County
Deep Six Dive & Watersports – Stuart
2525 NW Federal Highway, Stuart, FL 34994
Miami-Dade County
Austin’s Diving Center
10525 S Dixie Highway, Miami, FL 33156
Tarpoon Lagoon Dive Center
300 Alton Road Suite 110, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Monroe County
Tildens Scuba Center
4650 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050
Florida Keys Diving Center
90451 Old Highway, Tavernier, FL 33070
Captain’s Corner Dive Center
125 Ann Street, Key West, FL 33040
Finz Dive Center
5130 Overseas Highway, Key West, FL 33040
Divers Direct (Key Largo)
99621 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo, FL 33037
Okaloosa County
Discovery Dive World – Valparaiso
92 S John Sims Parkway, Valparaiso, FL 32580
Destin – Fort Walton Beach Welcome Center
1540 Miracle Strip Parkway, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548
ScubaTech of NW Florida
301 Harbor Boulevard (Highway 98), Destin
Salatino Seafood 82 Oak Lane, Shalimar, FL 32579
Palm Beach County
Scuba Works
351 South US Hwy One, Suite 103, Jupiter, FL 33477
Force-E Scuba Center – Boca Raton
2621 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Boynton Beach Dive Center
212 S Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Narcosis Dive Company
200 E 13th Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33404
Pura Vida Divers
2513 Beach Court, Riviera Beach, FL 33404
Pasco County
Super Sports And Scuba
7129 US-19, New Port Richey, FL 34652
Scuba West
6815 Tower Drive, Hudson, FL 34667
Pinellas County
Jim’s Dive Shop
9385 Bay Pines Boulevard, St. Petersburg, FL 33708
Mac’s Sports Inc. Clearwater
2126 Drew Street, Clearwater, FL 33765
Heroes Dive Center
2109 Main St. A, Dunedin
Sunshine Scuba School – Largo
1901 West Bay Drive Suite 10, Largo, FL 33770
Floridas’ Wildside LLC
10344 51st Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33708
Santa Rosa County
Shark Quest Dive Shop
5614 Gulf Breeze Pkwy, Gulf Breeze, FL 32563
Sarasota County
Venice Dive Center
902 S Tamiami Trail, Nokomis, FL 34275
Florida Underwater Sports
6920 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34231
St. Johns County
iDive Florida
854 Anastasia Blvd, St. Augustine, FL 32080
St. Lucie County
Dive Odyssea
621 N 2nd Street, Fort Pierce, FL 34950
Volusia County
Discover Diving Dive Center LLC
92 Dunlawton Avenue, Port Orange, FL 32127
Spruce Creek Scuba
1646 Taylor Road, Port Orange, FL 32128
Lionfish Challenge Raffle Rules
- This contest is the being conducted by the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation located at P.O. Box 11010, Tallahassee, FL 32302.
- Winners of the raffle drawing are eligible to receive one of a number of prizes
- Current employees of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are NOT ELIGIBLE to apply for or win any of the Lionfish Challenge raffle prizes.
- There is no cost to enter to win. To be eligible to win the participant must complete a Harvest Submission Form and upload a photo of their first 25 lionfish harvested in Florida waters to FWCReefRangers.com.
- Participants will receive one raffle entry upon completion of Harvest Submission Form.
- Participants cannot win multiple raffle prizes during the Lionfish Challenge.
- Winners will be randomly drawn, by 10AM ET on the following dates: June 2, 2021 (2 winners); July 7, 2021 (4 winners); August 4, 2021 (4 winners); September 1, 2021 (2 winners).
- Drawings will be made at the office of the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Inc., using a computer program designed for random selection. The winner will be notified via email and will have five (5) business days after notification to verify their shipping address. Otherwise it will be offered to the next alternate selected in the drawing.
- Raffle prizes are awarded to winners in the order they were drawn. Raffle prizes are NOT exchangeable.
- Participants may choose not to accept their raffle prize. In this instance the raffle prize will be entered back into the prize pool and the participant will have forfeited their entry into the drawing.
- Void where prohibited by law.
- The Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reserves the right to use photographs of and quotes from the winner in publications and video presentations. Raffle winners may be showcased on FWCReefRangers.com and Facebook.com/fwcreefrangers.
- Prizes are taxable and will be reported to the IRS as appropriate. Please check with your tax advisor should you have any questions.
Hall of Fame
2021 Winners
Lionfish King
Brooks Feeser – 1632 lionfish
Commercial Champion
Rachel Bowman – 730 lbs
2020 Winners
Lionfish King
David Connerth – 1,141 Lionfish
Commercial Champion
Isidoro Bedoya – 1,196.5 lbs
2019 Winners
Lionfish King
Ken Ayers, Jr. – 1,194 Lionfish
Commercial Champion
Josh Livingston – 3,192.8 lbs
2018 Winners
Lionfish King
John McCain – 1,137 Lionfish
Commercial Champion
Ron Surrency – 5,017 lbs
2017 Winners
Lionfish King
Ken Ayers, Jr. – 1,250 Lionfish
Commercial Champion
Josh Livingston – 4,560 lbs
2016 Winners
Lionfish King
David Garrett – 3,324 Lionfish