A lionfish in an aquarium.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conser-vation this week announced that the Lionfish Challenge has been extended. Participants will now have until Nov. 1 to submit their lionfish.

The Lionfish Challenge rewards lionfish harvesters with prizes for their lionfish removals. The participants who harvest the most lionfish will be crowned the Recreational Lionfish King/Queen and the Commercial Champion.

The challenge also has a tiered prize system that allows everyone to be rewarded for their removals. The more removals, the more prizes you win. A new component this year will be monthly Mini-Challenges. The winners will be announced each month and rewarded with substantial prizes.

According to the FWC, as of this week, 558 people have registered to participate in the challenge and 113 people have submitted lionfish (105 recreational, 8 commercial). The report also indicates that 4,718 lionfish have been submitted and 46 checkpoints for recreational participant submissions have been established.

The largest lionfish reported to date — 408 mm — was turned in by Josh Livingston.

The Challenge also includes raffle drawings for participants. The upcoming raffle drawings will be held Aug. 5 – four winners, Aug. 19 – two winners, Sept. 2 – two winners, Sept. 16 – two winners and Sept. 30 – two winners, All qualified participants (submission of 20 lionfish or 20 pounds for commercial) will be entered into drawing.

Sign up and learn more today by visiting MyFWC.com/Lionfish.