Guess that photo answers the question of whether the lionfish can be hooked!
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I suspect over time some other species of fish in the area will figure out how to effectively dine on them and control the population to some degree.
Chinese Ring Neck Pheasants were introduced in the US in the 1800's. Apparently because someone was not satisfied hunting grouse and prairie chickens (which are in my opinion a more challenging target and taste the same). Hunting, even in years when the summers or winters were devestating to Pheasant populations, has never been enough to eradicate them, although there has never been any real political pressure to do so as they have been around long enough not to be considered an invasive species.
Eventually 100 years from now, whatever balance will occur will have occurred and Lionfish will probably fall in the same category. I suspect over time some other species of fish in the area will figure out how to effectively dine on them and control the population to some degree.
I understand one of the biggest problems is that predatory fish don't recognize them as food...anecdotally, in The Bahamas, sharks supposedly will only eat dead lionfish. The other problem is the reduction of the predatory fish population...not enough sharks, grouper, or snapper to keep the lionfish population at bay.
We "dispatched" two small lionfish while outside the Marine Park in Coz and the fish in the surrounding bommie certainly enjoyed the meal.