There have been many reports about the out-of-control lion fish population in the Atlantic ocean along the east coast. The lionfish grows up to 18 inches long. Lionfish are skilled hunters known to eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths. There are estimates that about 70 percent of the Atlantic’s fish species are fair game for the fish and that at least 40 native species have suffered thanks to the over-population.
They are especially threatening to native coral and have been found with fatty livers from gorging so much on Atlantic Ocean natives.The vicious predator has no known predators. That is, except us.
They say that the only solution that will work is for people to start eating them. This idea is unsavory to some, what with the stripes and the poisonous spines and all.
So here are some recipes from around Pinterest to help get things started.
Lionfish, the prickly fifteen-inch increasingly dominant Atlantic marine creature, is growing in abundance at an alarming rate. Intimidating to stare down, these fish are becoming quite the appetizing dish lately.
Lionfish are presently considered a threat due to the excessive growth rate (females can produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs at one time) of these spiked fish, which led to efforts at population control because of a series of factors.
Steve Gittings, who is the science program manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Sanctuary Program, best explained the reason behind population control for lionfish.
“Without any known predators, and apparently no significant diseases or parasitic controls in Atlantic ecosystems, their numbers continue to skyrocket,” Steve Gittings said.
The director of special projects for the non-profit conservation group REEF, Lad Akins, spoke about the benefits of getting the lionfish out of the oceans, which would be achieved by encouraging the human consumption of the fish.
“We certainly want to see lionfish in more restaurants because as it goes into the market place, it creates a demand. Anything that removes them out of the water is a good thing,” Lad Akins said.
Fortunately, the cooking process as well as the procedure of severing the meat of the fish from the poisonous spikes, prevents any poison from harming people when eating the lionfish.
According to Tony Fins, who is a representative for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, “Lionfish are the biggest threat to ecosystem, not only in Florida, but also the Caribbean. We all know this is a problem, so let’s speed up the process.”
According to David Link, who is the manager of the Food Shack in Jupiter, Florida, “It’s deadly, but it’s one of most delicious fish you’ll ever eat.” That’s one way to put it. Another avenue of thought was best explained by food supplier Mano Calambichis who co-owns Big Chef.
“We better learn how to eat them, before they eat us,” Mano Calambichis said.
Venomous. Fast. Deadly. Will swallow food whole every time. Subject to only one known predator, which includes humans. What could this describe? The lionfish (native of the Pacific and Indian oceans) is the creature that is now taking over the Atlantic Ocean.
Roughly sized at fifteen inches, these marine creatures are not intimidating for their size, but rather the poisonous protrusions on their bodies. Typically active during the day, lionfish are found in rocky, shallow bays as well as coral reefs where camouflage is capable.
Graham Maddocks, the president of Ocean Support Foundation, recently spoke with CNN about the invasion. “The lionfish invasion is probably the worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face.”
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Graham Maddocks went on to further explain, “I don’t know if we can stop the lionfish invasion. This isn’t a battle we can win, we can only maintain. Human beings started this problem. It is our fault they are here. We have to take responsibility and try to fix or hope we can control it.”
“It’s an infestation. The Atlantic Ocean is a big place, but the areas being affected are extremely important,” James Morris said.
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Concerns for the ecosystem focus around the capacity of the lionfish to devour other types of fish that cross their paths. Lionfish can produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs within just a few days time and it is not unheard of for these fish to live for fifteen years, which equates with the potential for a high volume of unstoppable fish to dominate whatever areas these marine creatures inhabit. The potential for the survival of other types of marine life that inhabit the same space may be grim.
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Lionfish have poison in the needle-like protrusions from their bodies; however, there is no poison within the flesh of the fish and as such humans can consume without fear of ingesting poison. Many people have previously been afraid to eat the fish due to myths about the type of poison.
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Efforts have been underway in order to control the population of lionfish, which includes nine various subspecies. Some of the ongoing efforts for population control have included promoting lionfish tournaments and community-wide events such as fish fries.
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Though the concern is far from over, people must continue to strive to maintain an eco-friendly balance where one species does not overtake the others.
The venomous lionfish, an invasive species in the Atlantic, has been multiplying to the point of becoming an ecological disaster. Graham Maddocks, president and founder of Ocean Support Foundation, says that “The lionfish invasion is probably the worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face.”
And the problem has only just begun. The lionfish, which reproduces quickly, and eats almost anything that can fit in its mouth, has long been a problem in the Caribbean. And for some time, the fish has been migrating up the eastern Atlantic coast in the U.S. Pterois, the proper name of the lionfish, is an Indo-Pacific native species, but has been recorded in the Atlantic for decades.
The fish, which has been eating itself to fatty liver disease on the Atlantic seaboard, produces roughly 30,000 to 40,000 eggs a day, has no natural predators except for humans, and the native fish in its invaded waters haven’t yet evolved to instinctively run from it. They can wipe out 90% of a reef, and the larger ones are now being found as deep as 300 feet.
Pterois are popular aquarium fish; Captain Picard has one in his ready room fish tank, (why would he not?), and a lionfish can now be shipped to one’s doorstep for about $75 dollars, via the mail order aquarist trade. Florida pet owners have been blamed for introducing the fish into the Atlantic, and DNA analysis has traced the linage of the invasive population to only 6 to 8 females.
Lionfish are also good eating, but one must take care in removing their poisonous spines. Across Bermuda, there are lionfish tournaments and lionfish fries, and one can see “Eat ’em to Beat ’em” T-shirts throughout the island.
Still, Graham Maddocks points out that eating as many lionfish as we can will not be enough to eradicate the problem. “It’s an infestation. The Atlantic Ocean is a big place, but the areas being affected are extremely important.”
“I don’t know if we can stop the lionfish invasion. This isn’t a battle we can win, we can only maintain,” Maddocks said. “Human beings started this problem. It is our fault they are here. We have to take responsibility and try to fix or hope we can control it.”
A deep-sea expedition last month found that Atlantic Ocean lionfish are moving into the Atlantic coast in large numbers. Even more disturbing for researchers was the fact that the lionfish found during the expedition were large, meaning they can more easily reproduce and travel to varying depths.
The expedition was the first to use a deep-sea diving submersible to examine lionfish populations in the Atlantic. Reseachers dove to depths of over 300 feet off the coast of Fr. Lauderdale, Florida to find lionfish near a cargo ship that was intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef.
“We expected some populations of lionfish at that depth, but their numbers and size were a surprise,” said Stephanie Green, a researcher at Oregon State University who participated in the research. “This was kind of an ‘Ah hah!’ moment. It was immediately clear that this is a new frontier in the lionfish crisis, and that something is going to have to be done about it. Seeing it up-close really brought home the nature of the problem.”
The expedition’s findings have raised new alarms for collaborative efforts to control the lionfish population on the Atlantic coast due to the fish’s destructive predatory behavior. Lionfish, which are native to the Pacific Ocean, were accidentally introduced into the Atlantic in the 1990s. The fish have no natural controls on their populations in the Atlantic, and previous studies have shown lionfish can reduce native fish populations by as much as 80%.
“A lionfish will eat almost any fish smaller than it is,” said Green. “Regarding the large fish we observed in the submersible dives, a real concern is that they could migrate to shallower depths as well and eat many of the fish there. And the control measures we’re using at shallower depths – catch them and let people eat them – are not as practical at great depth.”
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