Lionfish Hunting in Dominica

International Lionfish Hunter and Professional Scuba Instructor Roger Muller recently dove in Dominica, where he removed over 300 invasive lionfish, setting records for single-dive kills in Dominica.

In this video, Roger dives on December 3rd, 2023, after being stung earlier in the trip. This video documents three dives in one day, and the dive sites were Coral Gardens North, Rena’s Hole, and Whale Shark Reef. At Coral Gardens North, Roger got 12 kills, and then 19 at Rena’s Hole. Then he got a whopping 40 lionfish kills on his third dive at Whale Shark Reef. Roger had a total of 71 kills for this last trip of the day, ending it on a great note. Dive Shop Owners Virginie and Remi got 39 and 1 kills, respectively, and did an amazing job filming and helping out Roger. This dive brought Roger to 3150 lifetime kills in 14 years. Dive shop owner Remi also discovered a new spine on the lionfish. This is a new discovery and shows that Lionfish are evolving and mutating quickly in the ocean to be even more dangerous. The spine was on the tail, which is usually considered a safe spot to grab them.

INTERNATIONAL LIONFISH HUNTER I am Roger J. Muller, Jr., from Hoboken, New Jersey, and although it doesn’t seem like the expected place for a Lionfish hunter to reside, it has been my home base throughout all my adventures. I am an experienced International Lionfish Hunter and professional scuba instructor with both the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) that has tracked and hunted the fish throughout North America, many times in partnership with local organizations. I kill Lionfish to restore the natural balance in these areas and prevent the marine animal from causing any more destruction to the coral reef ecosystems I have dove in for over 20 years.

MY BACKGROUND To give you a little background on myself, my day job (because we all need one of those…) is actually as an insurance agent. I know what you’re thinking here – insurance is a pretty boring career choice – and you’re right – which is why I had to look for a little more extracurricular fun when I wasn’t at work. Although I’m a business person by trade, I’ve always loved science and conservation and actually graduated with an Environmental Science Degree with honors from Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ. After school, I went into my family business, Muller Insurance of Hoboken, NJ, in order to continue my father and grandfather’s legacy and serve my community as they had for over 112 years.