Lionfish the other white meat

[WarmWaterWuss]

Sooo. After returning from Cozumel and seeing all the Lionfish and hearing all about how many other tropical fish they consume in one day, I have a major attitude towards Lionfish. The DMs in Coz and the Mayan Riviera that I have talked with are all for eradication of the Lionfish in Caribbean waters and they are trying as hard as they can to trap as many as they can.

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[Octoshark]

Why are they all for the eradication?

 

[tgreene]

Why are they all for the eradication?

Lionfish have no natural enemys, thus they are decimating the reefs.

 

[fishome25]

They actually do have a nice white meat. I went on one of the collection trips with REEF and we filleted some of the larger ones for dinner.

 

[Elan L.]

lionfish down here are a kill on site

 

[COreefer]

Are lionfish proliferating in Cozumel? I was in Coz last year, dove 10 days and didn't see any lionfish. Where did you see them?

 

[WarmWaterWuss]

I saw three of them in Cozumel and the Dive Op had several they had caught that week. They offered me a net to catch any that I saw on my shore dives but I never saw any (plus i would've been a little chicken to mess with them). I also saw them in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico recently.

 

[Zoner]

My husband (whose account I'm hijacking) and I were in Nassau diving last month and they were EVERYWHERE! Our DM said that the locals have actually started catching and eating them in an effort to try to keep the numbers down.

When we were in the Keys diving this past July, the DM had said to keep an eye out for any as they were trying to flag all areas that they had been spotted.

 

[coralfish]

Lionfish are native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, not the US or the Caribbean. They are eating everything in sight and are really threatening the native species.

Here's one of several articles on the invasion.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111695369

 

[reefkeeper1]

Took down my reeftank a few years ago, and I never kept a lionfish, but I thought this article link would also be interesting:

http://food.theatlantic.com/sustainability/save-a-reef-eat-a-lionfish.php

 

[crabbejoe]

They actually do have a nice white meat. I went on one of the collection trips with REEF and we filleted some of the larger ones for dinner.

Eat them, that's a good idea! :thumbsup: If they would start selling them in restaurants it could take some of the pressure off the more threatened species.

 

[crabbejoe]

"In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed an aquarium tank in Florida." Sure, they always have to blame the aquarists! Different articles have said lionfish larvae might have hitched rides in ballast water of ships, or they could've drifted with the changing ocean currents.

 

[Elan L.]

well, it probably was the aquarist. same thing that happened with the burmese, reticulated python, and yellow/green anaconda down in the everyglades. They got too big in their stupid owners cages so were released. there are just some people that can ruin everything.

 

[keezdiver]

the egg stage is too short to really allow for travel in a balast tank, as well as a current.

besides the thermal tolerance probably wouldn't allow that.



i'm a fish biologist in the Fl Keys.....they are bad news.

first confirmed one showed up down here this summer...since then ...DOZENS.
we collected one right off marathon 2 weeks ago

 

[FishBoy05]

Don't think a "grilled lionfish sandwich" would look appetizing on a menu.

 

[fishome25]

well another name for lionfish is turkeyfish. Thats sounds a bit tastier.

 

[Ricunger]

well another name for lionfish is turkeyfish. Thats sounds a bit tastier.

lol... it does sound much better.

 

[Bluetangclan]

Ha this is funny, its been my signature for a year now lol. I have heard some resorts have bounties on them.

 

[bigreefer1978]

i believe the same goes for the gulf of mexico and around tip of florida for the eradication of them as well

 

[bigreefer1978]

i think people actually get paid to go and capture the lionfish if i am not mistaken