Conservation · Rim Run Caribe™ · Reef Defense

CD the
Lion Hunter

One sailor. One trident. Eleven countries. An invasive species that has no business being here.

Why

Built to Impress One Person.

People ask who this expedition is meant to impress. The answer is one person — me. Not the sailing community. Not social media. Not institutions, sponsors, or strangers with opinions about what constitutes a worthy adventure. Three decades of work — on submarines, in boardrooms, on the water, and in the kind of places that reshape how a man sees the world — have produced a value set that doesn’t need external validation. The standard is internal. Always has been.

What that means in practice: the planning is meticulous, the preparation is relentless, and the execution is measured against one question — did I do this right? Not fast. Not impressively. Right. The sea is an honest judge and a poor audience. It doesn’t care about the narrative. It rewards preparation, punishes arrogance, and has no interest in anyone’s personal brand. That suits this expedition perfectly.

The highest loyalty here is to humanity itself — not to a tribe, a nation, a religion, a politics, or an ideology. The mission underneath every mile of this route is the advancement, protection, and survival of human civilization and the natural systems that sustain it. The lionfish is a direct threat to those systems. That’s why the trident goes in.

This is not performance. It is purpose — built from the inside out, over thirty years, and now pointed at the water.

The Most Destructive Fish in the Caribbean — and What One Diver Can Do About It

The lionfish (Pterois volitans) is native to the Indo-Pacific. It has no business being in the Caribbean. It arrived here — almost certainly through home aquariums dumped into Florida waters — and has since spread from the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil with zero natural predators to check its growth.

A single lionfish can reduce the juvenile reef fish population of a coral head by up to 79% within five weeks. It eats constantly, breeds year-round, and is completely unafraid of divers — which makes it uniquely vulnerable to the one intervention that works: a trident, a steady approach, and a clean shot.

Removing them by hand is one of the very few direct actions an individual diver can take that immediately and measurably benefits reef health. CD carries a trident on every dive across the entire Rim Run Caribe™ circuit and hunts wherever local law permits — 11 countries, 2,000+ nautical miles, and every reef in between.

11
Countries on circuit
2,000+
Nautical miles
79%
Reef fish lost in 5 weeks
Lionfish on reef
Lionfish spines Catamaran Dan, CD the Lion Hunter
Rim Run Caribe™ · Live Conservation Record
The Lionfish Scoreboard
Pterois volitans — confirmed kills by CD the Lion Hunter
Hunter
Catamaran Dan
// CD the Lion Hunter
USN NUCLEAR SUBMARINER
VESSEL: SHAMROCKET · RIM RUN CARIBE™ 2026+
WEAPON: TRIDENT · THEATRE: 11 COUNTRIES / WESTERN CARIBBEAN
Confirmed Kills
6
lionfish
Kill tally — one mark per fish

Hunting Regulations by Country

Rim Run Caribe™ — 11 Countries
CountryStatusKey Conditions & Notes
🇲🇽 Mexico✓ LegalCONAPESCA fishing license; trident / pole spear permitted; year-round; no bag limit on lionfish
🇧🇿 Belize✓ LegalFisheries license (~$25 BZD); lionfish actively encouraged; multiple organized derbies annually
🇬🇹 Guatemala✓ LegalStandard MAGA fishing license; trident fine; avoid Río Dulce no-take zones
🇭🇳 Honduras⚠ RestrictedLionfish ONLY; Hawaiian sling only (no spearguns); Roatan Marine Park workshop required (~$50, valid 2 yrs)
🇳🇮 Nicaragua✓ LegalINPESCA license; trident permitted; avoid Pearl Cays no-take areas
🇨🇷 Costa Rica⚠ VerifyTourist spearfishing regulated; confirm lionfish exception with INCOPESCA before diving with trident in Cahuita or Manzanillo marine zones
🇵🇦 Panama✓ LegalARAP license (~$20 USD); Bocas del Toro and San Blas / Guna Yala open; respect Kuna Yala autonomous zone protocols
🇨🇴 Colombia✓ LegalFishing license; lionfish removal encouraged nationwide; avoid Tayrona NP no-take boundary; active removal programmes in Islas del Rosario
🇦🇼 Aruba✓ LegalNo specific spearfishing ban; lionfish removal welcomed; Dutch territory; confirm with DLVV before diving
🇧🇶 Bonaire✓ LegalSTINAPA dive registration required (~$45/yr); lionfish removal actively encouraged by Bonaire National Marine Park; trident permitted; one of the most organized removal programs in the Caribbean
🇨🇼 Curaçao✓ LegalCARMABI dive registration; lionfish removal welcomed; trident fine; Klein Curaçao open; check current marine park boundaries
✓ Legal — Hunt freely with local license / standard permit
⚠ Restricted — Legal with specific course, license, or gear constraint
✗ Restricted — Prohibited or unconfirmed — verify before deploying trident

Regulations change. This table reflects best available information as of the Rim Run Caribe™ launch date. Always verify with local fisheries authorities before hunting in any jurisdiction. When in doubt, the trident stays aboard — there's always another reef in a country that welcomes the hunt.

Nevado Ranch Camp LLC · catamarandan.org