To kill or not to kill lionfish in the Caribbean and Florida?

[Bubbles McGee]

I support the harvesting of Lionfish for human consumption. The 2 Lionfish hunts we did in St Lucia were great and they are very tasty. I don't believe in killing them for feeding the local reef species.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

Kill them and eat them. They taste great and groupers aren't fully trained to eat them.

 

[Russell Bowyer]

I think the voting is pretty much conclusive - out of 142 who voted so far 134 are in favour of killing lionfish or 94%

 

[KathyV]

Lionfish Cullers beware!

I thought that some of you might enjoy this cartoon that appeared in a recent issue of the Cayman Compass newspaper. It was drawn by George Nowak. He is a funny and irreverent local musician who performs regularly on Grand Cayman under the name of Barefoot Man:

Barefoot Man in the Cayman Islands Caribbean Music

He also creates cartoons for the newspaper under the name Caymanman.

The Lion Fish | Cayman Compass

 

[Exigent]

Apologies if this has already been posted in this long thread but here goes. A high school friend of my wife, Ryan Chadwick, currently runs a business called Norman's Lionfish that harvests and serves Lionfish in his chain of restaurants. He has a link on the website, Dive for Us, where you can contact him and possibly sell any Lionfish that are killed in bulk.

 

[KathyV]

There is a local artist on Grand Cayman that makes and sells jewelry created from Lionfish:

If You Can't Beat Them, Wear Them | Camana Bay

 

[Russell Bowyer]

Lionfish Cullers beware!

I thought that some of you might enjoy this cartoon that appeared in a recent issue of the Cayman Compass newspaper. It was drawn by George Nowak. He is a funny and irreverent local musician who performs regularly on Grand Cayman under the name of Barefoot Man:

Barefoot Man in the Cayman Islands Caribbean Music

He also creates cartoons for the newspaper under the name Caymanman.

The Lion Fish | Cayman Compass

View attachment 477778

Thank you Kathy for this, made me smile this morning!

 

[JEEP PIRATE 08]

if its not endangered and it is an invasive species that is causing unnatural damage to the local ecosystem, then by all means YES eliminate them. We have the same Problem in TN with Asian Carp in the river systems and it is wreaking havoc on our local wildlife. There is a difference in killing just because and good conservation. We hunt here and I was taught early not kill it if i wasnt going to eat it or unless it was trying to eat me. This is clearly a man made problem and if you can get rid of them and restrict them back to their normal habitats then I would say yes that is the thing to do.

 

[Russell Bowyer]

Thank you for your input Jeep - the problem is there are now too many lionfish and no matter how many are killed, they are in the Caribbean to stay.

 

[Misfit12]

Kill em, eat em, the rest of the ocean will thank you!