Before and after photos ...

[Thumper]

My (Chinese) buddy and his wife spent a couple days in Ft. Lauderdale, then went to Miami for a couple days. They're on the way to Cuba now. Anyway, he sent me a pic of their dinner last night. Heck, I wasn't even aware you could eat Lionfish! Here are the before & after pics he sent me. :D


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[Trav]

Thumper, since they got out into tha Caribbean and Gulf, there had been a big push to market them as food. I have a bud who’s niece has a PHD in Marine Biology who’s doctoral dissertations was on the impact of Lionfish as an invasive species in the Caribbean.

It was a pretty amazing read, I have also seen some dive operators who will let divers kill all they can.

[Thumper]

Yep, they’re a real problem here. Most likely from people dumping them when they get rid of their aquariums. With their poison spines, they really have no natural enemies and thrive in our warner waters. They’re major predators and starve out desirable species. I just never thought about eating them. Here’s a good article.

My buddy said it was delicious.

https://marinesanctuary.org/blog/creature-feature-lionfish/

[Chicken Dinner]

I’d eat it.


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[Penguin]

I’d eat it.

Lol, having flashbacks of that old internet meme of Richard Dawson.... "I'd hit it!"

I am glad to know that maybe they serve some purpose. Like you guys said they are a real problem from what I've seen on the issue.

Will

[BarryBobPosthole]

I’ve had them ‘cooked’ in lime juice aboard a dive boat and had them in restaurants in St Lucia. Just about every divemaster on a Caribbean dive will carry a hawaiian sling and a bag to carry the fish on every dive these days. And on a lot of islands they hold lionfish roundups and tourneys a few times a year as well.
Personally, I wouldn’t touch one to clean it. One divemaster told me she got hit on her index finger once and it hurt like the dickens for two weeks.
I asked her if she thought they were making a difference. Yes, for sure at the dive sites. But when you compare that to the miles of open ocean there isn’t much we could do to stop them.

St Lucia is where I’ve seen the most concerted efforts and they are on most restaurant menus.

Orange roughy they are not though.

And on edit, I did run across an interesting approach to the problem. The divemasters on Placencia are ‘training’ the moray eels at the dive sites to eat them. That mainly entails arrowing one with a sling and then disemboweling it right in front of where they know morays are. I’ve watched them feed two of them and that eel ate them like there were no spines at all. This probably violates any number of rules about wildlife, but it didn’t bother me none. I hope they eat them all the way back to the Pacific Ocean.

[Big Skyz]

I follow this YouTube channel called deermeatfordinner they catch and cook lionfish now and then. They don't look too bad to eat, but I'm too clumsy to want to try and filet one out.

https://youtu.be/sFa0s8fXQig

[BarryBobPosthole]

Just found this randomly searching on youtube..

BKb


https://youtu.be/1fBQXCxnlJc

[Big Skyz]

I wonder why the toxins in that lionfish don't jack that eel up? Maybe it does but they didn't stick around long enough to find out.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I don’t know how/or if they really know but the people I saw doing it say the eels don’t feel a thing from the stings.

The downside is that eels can get really ‘pushy’ with divers and snorkelers when they are fed by people. Its very much frowned on for that reason. Now they will feed the crap out of sharks but they keep their distance. I have photographed several big morays way up close and haven’t bumped into an agressive one while taking pictures. They stand their ground which makes them good photo opportunities. I did have one swim up behind me into my fins for a bit but the irony is I never even knew it. Someone else told me after we surfaced.

BKB

[Big Skyz]

I've seen a few eels while snorkeling, but never one big enough to eat a lionfish. I'd probably walk/run on water if I did see a big one. They look too much like a snake.

[Thumper]

I've seen a few eels while snorkeling, but never one big enough to eat a lionfish. I'd probably walk/run on water if I did see a big one. They look too much like a snake.

DON'T SAY THAT!!! Cappy may take up snorkeling! I've seen him in a bathing suit and it ain't pretty. He scares wimmins and chillin's! :hair

[Big Skyz]

DON'T SAY THAT!!! Cappy may take up snorkeling! I've seen him in a bathing suit and it ain't pretty. He scares wimmins and chillin's!
How did you survive to tell the tale?

[Thumper]

How did you survive to tell the tale?

Lots and lots of SeaFoam! ;)