The beautiful and exotic lionfish is anything but admired in the south Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, where it has created a state of emergency on the fragile reefs that proliferate the region. Lionfish are voracious predators, indiscriminate in their feeding preferences, which can include creatures that are more than twice its size. It has few natural predators in this foreign environment, where the rate of lionfish reproduction is enabling a rapid takeover of nearly all reaches of the reefs. Their insatiable predatory behavior claims the lives of juvenile and mature species alike, putting an abrupt end to the lineage of some species before they ever reach sexual maturity, stifling any chance for continuation of certain fisheries. The very survival of the reef depends on putting a stop to their expansion, which seems to lie solely in human hands at this point.
Catching lionfish has proven to be absurdly easy in most cases, despite the dangerous toxin that resides in the sharp spines that surround their bodies. Perhaps it is due to the lack of natural predators which would instill a fear response, or maybe the lionfish just isn’t all that cunning. Whatever the case may be, spearing or capture with a net can be facilitated by closing in steadily on the pest, who seem to stare blankly at their impending doom. It is important to handle the lionfish with great care once it is caught; most divers use a catch bag or a long line dragged behind to avoid contact with the spines.
Once you get your catch topside, you may be wondering how to go about preparing the fish so you don’t risk puncturing your flesh. This video demonstrates just that, with an added bonus of a couple ways to cook the flesh. No matter how you choose to eat the lionfish, you can take pride in the fact that you are doing the sea and the Earth a great service by removing them from places they do not belong! Happy hunting!
Image via MyFWCmedia
I think I would rather eat the other kind of lion.
Dried powdered COTS drink are the latest craze in aphrodisiacs in Asia! So, eating lionfish is not a strectch.
We’ve eaten lionfish fritters, lionfish enchiladas , lionfish quesadillas, all fantastic dishes.
I kill, I don’t eat fish
They are a delicious fish!
Yes they are. Got 17 on a dive in Roatan. Had Cerviche and fried Lionfish for dinner. Really good!
More divers (lionfish slayers) needed in Curacao…4 days of diving and more lionfish than I could count.
Buddy Dive (in Bonaire) had a lion fish hunting course and then a dinner course with three different preparations – very good. We did see a lot of lion fish while we were there, it was a huge shame.
When we were diving in Belize we speared many lion fish. I asked our dive master about eating them. He harvested several of our kills and tool them to the cooks at Turneffe Island Resort. The wonderful cooks made lion fish ceviche and it was fantastic!!! I would recommend eating this fish to anyone that knows how to prepare it.
We were lucky enough to try some lion fish on our trip to Belize and it was delicious. Probably the best fish on our entire trip.
I haven’t dove in 10 years (which kills me) are they that bad here now? I’d it a staple Ro see on dives in the keys?
we live in saint vincent and the grenadines and we are starting to see them pretty regularly here. they aren’t as big as the ones i’ve seen in st. lucia and dominica though…also lionfish ceviche is the way to eat it! yumm!
That is just the wrong thing to do!
They are called the vaccums of the sea by many. They may be indiscriminant when feeding but they are also pretty lazy so they are what you might call passive preditors waiting for the fish to come to them. Of course, the juvenile fish some smaller than your little finger are protected by the crevices of the reef but not with these guys. I saw one feeding and he slurped the little guys out of their little cracks like a seafood buffet! On the two dives in Belize our dive masters killed around thirty. Most are smaller than the palm of your hand but some were like in the pic. Ranks right up there with the house fly.
They are tasty