Looks like the Lionfish are here to stay...

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PeterInBrat

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May 29, 2006
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Ugh...
"Studies have suggested that we’d need to fish more than a quarter of the mature lionfish every month to stunt population growth, let alone reverse it. "
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It’s estimated that lionfish in the Bahamas eat upward of 1,000 pounds of prey per acre per year. Given that lionfish feed largely on small fishes, this equates to hundreds of thousands of individual fish consumed per year by lionfish per acre. But all the interstitial fat I saw suggests that the North Carolinian fish aren’t just eating until they’re full; they’re overindulging on the rich diversity of seafood that North Carolina has to offer. Though lionfish can go weeks between meals, when they don’t have to, they won’t. Scientists have observed lionfish eating at a rate of one to two fish per minute, and their stomachs can expand 30 times their size to accommodate lots of food. To become obese, fish eat upward of 7.5 times their normal dietary intake, which means the abundant North Carolina lionfish could be eating as much as 7,000 pounds of prime North Carolina seafood per acre every year—seafood that we’d much prefer ended up on our plates instead.
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PeterInBrat

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Edible or not, the government should start a bounty program on these guys regardless of size. They are easy enough to catch, but without a demand the fishermen aren't going to make any effort to kill them. They are feasting on the juvenile fish that have no natural fear of them. Figure each Lionfish eats 1000 small fish a year or more and there are millions of them out there through the Caribbean now.
 
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pyratt

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Jan 14, 2007
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Lionfish

PeterInBrat said:
They are actually getting liver damage from eating so well.

Lionfish invasion: The invasive fish are eating so many native species that they’re obese. - Slate Magazine
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The tree hugging NOAA Sanctuary here in the Keys FINALLY realized they lost the lionfish war and announced OPEN SEASON on lionfish.

Unfortunately, we're still required to get special permits to hunt them in the Specie Preservation Areas (SPAs) like Looe Key, where they proliferate and EAT ALL the juvenile fish the SPAs were established to protect.

Thankfully, we're no longer are forced to catch the insurgents in clear plastic nets and place them on ice in what officials used to call a humane death. Now we can spear them!

I'm surprised the Dominicans have not figured out that they are an easy kill with short (3') pole spear. They taste great frito (fried). Heck, the restaurants could substitute them for mero and the gringos would never know!

Filleting a Lionfish - YouTube Good video on HOW TO CLEAN LIONFISH

I use scissors to trim the fins/spines off. Others i know heat the spine tips with a torch as heat kills the protein based toxin
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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PeterInBrat said:
Edible or not, the government should start a bounty program on these guys regardless of size.
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We were diving and snorkeling off La Catalina Island last week and saw dozens of them...far more than other species of fish. We were rather surprised...
 
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mountainannie

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what about this part?

"They are concerned that lionfish may contain ciguatoxin, a common tropical poison that causes somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000 cases of ciguatera fish poisoning every year. Ciguatera isn?t unique to lionfish; the disease occurs in tropical waters worldwide. The small lipid ciguatoxins that cause it are made by dinoflagellates, microscopic algaelike animals that live on and near reefs. Animals don?t really break down ciguatoxin, so it bioaccumulates up the food chain, thus large predators that eat high on the food web are most likely to have dangerous levels of ciguatoxin. In areas where the disease is endemic, species such as groupers and barracuda are simply too risky to consume and are often avoided by fishermen. The FDA is concerned that lionfish should also be included on that list, meaning that in areas such as the Virgin Islands, lionfish would be permanently off the menu. Their press release stated that more than a quarter of lionfish sampled contained unsafe ciguatoxin levels, and it issued a warning against eating them.
 
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ROLLOUT

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Keyword here, MA, is LARGE fish. Reason being they are so far up the food chain, thus, would have ingested more of the ciguatera-containing fish over time. Fact is, you could even be poisoned by a large snapper or wahoo! I feel that the cuda is unfairly maligned. I stayed in Great Inagua for six weeks, and caught and ate cuda several time per week. Never got poisoned. Know why? These were not reef dwelling fish, but swam in the inlets, and creeks of the island.

Roll
 
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pelaut

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Olivier Michaud from Luper?n has invented a cheap, anyone-can-build lionfish fileting contraption which harvests abundant and poison-free meat that is as good as mero (grouper). His idea is to make lionfish a sought-afer restaurant staple, which will help stabilize its population while allowing the population of its prey to grow back. Go see him.
 
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Dolores1

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pelaut said:
Olivier Michaud from Luper?n has invented a cheap, anyone-can-build lionfish fileting contraption which harvests abundant and poison-free meat that is as good as mero (grouper). His idea is to make lionfish a sought-afer restaurant staple, which will help stabilize its population while allowing the population of its prey to grow back. Go see him.
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Restaurant Asia Mia in Piantini has the lionfish on the menu. I would think that more restaurants would be open to serving the fish if good supply could be secured.
 
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Expat13

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Dolores said:
Restaurant Asia Mia in Piantini has the lionfish on the menu. I would think that more restaurants would be open to serving the fish if good supply could be secured.
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I know a guy here who has a fish farm for Pompano and he occasionally hunts lionfish. From what I heard recently the FDA does not recommend eating them due to overly high toxin levels regardless of the poison.
 
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PeterInBrat

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Ciguatera poison is it in most fish in harmless levels and then it builds up as it moves up the food chain. It's the same reason Barracuda isn't considered safe to eat.
 
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Expat13

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PeterInBrat said:
Ciguatera poison is it in most fish in harmless levels and then it builds up as it moves up the food chain. It's the same reason Barracuda isn't considered safe to eat.
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Yes, and apparently Lion fish are high on the food chain which is why FDA doesn't recommend. They actually did a test study and found higher than acceptable amounts of the Ciguatera you mention.
 
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PeterInBrat

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Expat13 said:
Yes, and apparently Lion fish are high on the food chain which is why FDA doesn't recommend. They actually did a test study and found higher than acceptable amounts of the Ciguatera you mention.
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If they are eating 1000+ fish a year each, no wonder!
 
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GinzaGringo

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People of African, European or Asian decent are also invasive species on Hispanola and all of North and South America. My guess is that not one single tree, flower, insect or bush in any DR1 members front or back yard is native to Hispanola either. I am not suggesting the Lionfish invasion is not a bad thing I'm just pointing out that humans have been dramatically altering/reworking the landscape since Colon visited. This Lionfish invasion is merely the latest consequence of a long line of clumsy blunders by the smartest species on the planet.
 
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blindlikebat

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The local scuba shop in my hometown has a yearly "Save and Slaughter" trip planned to Cozumel to help them rid themselves of this species.

-- BLB
 
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PeterInBrat

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GinzaGringo said:
People of African, European or Asian decent are also invasive species on Hispanola and all of North and South America. My guess is that not one single tree, flower, insect or bush in any DR1 members front or back yard is native to Hispanola either. I am not suggesting the Lionfish invasion is not a bad thing I'm just pointing out that humans have been dramatically altering/reworking the landscape since Colon visited. This Lionfish invasion is merely the latest consequence of a long line of clumsy blunders by the smartest species on the planet.
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Not quite true.. though there are many many introduced species on the island, not all introduced species are invasive. Rats, mongoose and cane toads are invasive, but papaya, sugarcane, rice, cows, and chickens are not. Feral goats and pigs are in a grey zone. A species is really only considered invasive once it starts having a negative impact on native species, it can't be controlled and its population is continually growing. There are still plenty of endemic species on the island, such as Hibiscus and the myriad cactus you can find.

With the lionfish, they would not only be considered invasive, but also a negative keystone species. This means the impact they have on local population is far greater than one would expect given their size. I'd give a very good chance that they will be driving some local fish to extinction soon, if they haven't already.
 
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Dolores1

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Mero in Spanish, I believe grouper in English, carries the ciguatoxin and nevertheless is a most popular comestible fish. Having tasted lion fish at Asia Mia Restaurant , it is delicious. I do hope it can be continued to be eaten, as a way to control this species.

"Various countries and territories in the Caribbean have been promoting lionfish as edible. However these areas usually do not have a high level of ciguatoxin in their larger reef fish. The North Eastern Caribbean from Guadeloupe to the Virgin Islands, including St. Maarten, have a higher level of ciguatoxin than most other areas in the Caribbean."

It could be that the Dominican Republic is not included among the countries with a high level of ciguatoxin because it is located in the western Caribbean.

This is from this article on the subject.

US Food and Drug Administration Echoes Previous Nature Foundation Recommendation on Lionfish Carrying Ciguatera Fish Poisoning.
 
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GinzaGringo

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These two guys went on the ABC show 'Shark Tank' looking for some investment capital to begin the process of making the Lionfish a species that humans like to eat. Unfortunately, the capitalist-stars on the show did not think it would be worth investing in that kind of venture.

Watch Full Episodes for Free Online - Shark Tank - ABC.com

Humans consuming this fish would be quite helpful because then fisherman could make money doing it and if fisherman can make money catching a fish, they will inevitably over-fish the cash-generating species. This would go a long way towards solving the problem of the Lionfish.

It seems like it is a marketing problem. If just one fish shop could successfully sell the stuff, maybe it would catch on.
 
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