Lionfish catchers took 14,067 of those little villains out of Florida seawaters during the state’s second annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day, actually a whole weekend on May 14-15.

How good is that? Compare it to the first event a year ago, when 2,975 lionfish were removed statewide. At Pensacola, where a two-day tournament and public festival were held — because the northern Gulf coast has the greatest density of lionfish — 8,089 of them were caught by divers, impressively surpassing the 5,978 caught in the rest of the state.

Charles Meyling of Montgomery, Ala. busted the biggest lion of all. Its total length was 445 millimeters, which translates to 17-33/64 inches, a new state record. The previous record was 438 millimeters, or 17-1/4 inches.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) commission, as organizer and chief sponsor, reported that 7,000-plus people attended the Lionfish Festival that weekend at Pensacola. That’s more than double last year’s attendance.

Lionfish reproduce like crazy so nobody can say whether the haul made a significant slash in the invasive species’ population, but the event was a promotional success. Here’s Jessica McCawley, director of the FWC’s marine fisheries division: “These numbers are a great example of the agency’s efforts to get the public educated about and involved in lionfish removal. Events like this one will encourage continued involvement in proactively and successfully removing lionfish.”

Diving and spearing are the most effective means of catching them. Although sometimes they bite a baited hook and there’s no size or bag limit, lionfish have little value as gamefish, so the state touts their delectability.

The Pensacola festival included filleting, cooking and tasting booths.

FWC said fish not consumed there would be sold for food to Whole Foods stores in Florida, Edible Invaders in Pensacola and other outlets in Destin, New Orleans and Atlanta. Students at Hillsborough County high schools in Wharton and Brandon will get some for science projects.

Wanted: High school students to start fishing clubs

Hey, kids! Did you know fishing is a recognized interscholastic sport in some Florida high schools? Wouldn’t it be cool if your school had one? There’s a good opportunity to make that happen, or just organize a school-sanctioned fishing club, with $500 of the costs covered by a grant from the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. The money pays for expenses related to tournaments, uniform shirts and education of beginners.

Of course there’s a catch or two. You don’t just get the money, buy the shirts and go fishing.

To qualify, your outfit needs a degree of diversity, so if everyone in your school is ethnically identical it’s too bad. Your school also has to recognize or sponsor it as an activity.

You’ll need a club or team of 10 students or more, and at least 10 of them have to be members of the Student Angler Federation, which is a part of The Bass Federation. Another group is the Fishing League Worldwide Foundation.

Your members will be expected to complete an aquatic education or boater safety course and a conservation project during the school year. That’s important to the Florida FWC, which is encouraging the program. Without something like that, it wouldn’t.

Maybe it’s not as complicated as it seems. Look it up online at www.flwfishing.com/foundation and, if it appeals to you, click the link to the grant application.

Suwanee sturgeon strikes

This year’s first collision between a fast-boating human and a leaping sturgeon has happened on the Suwanee River, a north Florida stream where that is the principal hazard to navigation.

The only good thing about it is that Ronald Dick, 62, survived the knockout blow. These things sometimes kill people. Last year on the Suwanee and Santa Fe, eight people were injured and one was killed by sturgeon strikes.

FWC investigators reported that Dick and his son, fishing in a tournament, were making about 30 mph a little upriver from Manatee Springs when the fish leaped in front of their boat. Apparently it bounced off the windshield before hitting Dick on the head.

Luckily his injuries were not life threatening. He was treated at a hospital and released.

Speeding in spring is more than a little risky on the Suwanee and Santa Fe, where sturgeon by the thousands migrate upstream from the Gulf to spawn, beginning in May. Those fish grow big, averaging 40 pounds with the highest known weight about 170. They can leap as high as 7 feet above the surface of the river.

They jump most when river levels are lowest. The Suwanee and Santa Fe both had high water last year, when there were no reported strikes. This year the water level’s down, so more jumps — and more accidents — are more likely.

Maj. Andy Krause, an FWC commander in Lake City, said boaters need to slow down now and deep into summer: “Please don’t think this can’t happen to you, especially if the water levels continue to drop. If you are boating on the rivers during the summer months, there’s a good chance you could encounter a sturgeon jumping out of the water.

“We certainly don’t want to scare people off the river. This is a beautiful area that everyone should enjoy. However, please be aware these fish are there and they do jump.”

Fish biologists think sturgeon leap to fill their swim bladders in order to maintain neutral buoyancy and possibly to communicate with other fish.