I would agree that you can never hunt them to extinction. Even if you cleaned them off the reefs the open ocean is a big, big place and they'll just come right back to the reefs - it's the Happy Hunting Grounds for them. But I have a feeling we're going to eventually find a way to control them if resources are put to the task. That won't come about until they start to effect shrimp and other commercial fisheries here in the States. That may be too late for the people who depend on catch for a living. We need to get started on this now. A natural balance in the ecosytem with these things may occur eventually but my opinion it's only going to favor the lionfish at the expense of most everything else.
Lionfish...Okay this is funny
- Thread starter Guba
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The ones I saw in the Bahamas were almost as docile as aquarium fish. I had to shoo one with my dive light to get him in position for the pic. Sticking him with a hand spear would have been very easy. But can we allow recreational divers with spears on the reefs...?!
redrover
Guest
LIONFISH Recipe of the day
LIONFISH PARMESAN
2 lbs. lionfish fillets, fresh or frozen
1 c. light sour cream
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. grated onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. liquid hot pepper sauce
Paprika
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Thaw fish if frozen. Cut off the spines with medical shears. Cut fish into serving-size portions. Place fish in a single layer in a well-greased baking dish, 12 x 8 x 2 inches. Combine remaining ingredients except paprika and parsley. Spread sour cream mixture over fish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Garnish with parsley.
Makes 6 servings.
LIONFISH PARMESAN
2 lbs. lionfish fillets, fresh or frozen
1 c. light sour cream
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. grated onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. liquid hot pepper sauce
Paprika
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Thaw fish if frozen. Cut off the spines with medical shears. Cut fish into serving-size portions. Place fish in a single layer in a well-greased baking dish, 12 x 8 x 2 inches. Combine remaining ingredients except paprika and parsley. Spread sour cream mixture over fish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Garnish with parsley.
Makes 6 servings.
Ketos
Guest
Ill definitely remember that one. I shot my first lion yesterday at the end of a dive because i had heard they were pretty tasty. I just blackened that one when i got home and it was delicious. I had shot a scamp that day too, and i have to say the lion was even better than the grouper!!! It makes sense considering they eat the same things...
Hard to believe i know, but now i'm a believer. Maybe we can open up the market for these things like they do in the pacific, i know ill be taking more of them from now on.
:gun:
Ketos,
I am glad you liked the recipe.
Here is another one.
GREEK GRILLED LIONFISH
2 lionfish filet
Greek seasoning (powder kind found in spices)
1 small can stewed tomatoes (with garlic variety)
1 small can chopped black olives
Place lionfish filet in oil-sprayed (Pam) foil pan. Coat with Greek powder seasoning. Spread stewed tomatoes on top of lionfish filet. Sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. Top with chopped black olives. Lightly sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. (DO NOT SALT)
Cover with foil and seal around sides of pan. Put pan on hot grill. Cook on medium head for about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on thickness of lionfish filets. You may squeeze lemon juice on top after cooking if you desire a more tart tasting lionfish.
Enjoy
I am glad you liked the recipe.
Here is another one.
GREEK GRILLED LIONFISH
2 lionfish filet
Greek seasoning (powder kind found in spices)
1 small can stewed tomatoes (with garlic variety)
1 small can chopped black olives
Place lionfish filet in oil-sprayed (Pam) foil pan. Coat with Greek powder seasoning. Spread stewed tomatoes on top of lionfish filet. Sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. Top with chopped black olives. Lightly sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. (DO NOT SALT)
Cover with foil and seal around sides of pan. Put pan on hot grill. Cook on medium head for about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on thickness of lionfish filets. You may squeeze lemon juice on top after cooking if you desire a more tart tasting lionfish.
Enjoy
Ketos,
I am glad you liked the recipe.
Here is another one.
GREEK GRILLED LIONFISH
2 lionfish filet
Greek seasoning (powder kind found in spices)
1 small can stewed tomatoes (with garlic variety)
1 small can chopped black olives
Place lionfish filet in oil-sprayed (Pam) foil pan. Coat with Greek powder seasoning. Spread stewed tomatoes on top of lionfish filet. Sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. Top with chopped black olives. Lightly sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. (DO NOT SALT)
Cover with foil and seal around sides of pan. Put pan on hot grill. Cook on medium head for about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on thickness of lionfish filets. You may squeeze lemon juice on top after cooking if you desire a more tart tasting lionfish.
Enjoy
I am glad you liked the recipe.
Here is another one.
GREEK GRILLED LIONFISH
2 lionfish filet
Greek seasoning (powder kind found in spices)
1 small can stewed tomatoes (with garlic variety)
1 small can chopped black olives
Place lionfish filet in oil-sprayed (Pam) foil pan. Coat with Greek powder seasoning. Spread stewed tomatoes on top of lionfish filet. Sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. Top with chopped black olives. Lightly sprinkle with Greek seasoning again. (DO NOT SALT)
Cover with foil and seal around sides of pan. Put pan on hot grill. Cook on medium head for about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on thickness of lionfish filets. You may squeeze lemon juice on top after cooking if you desire a more tart tasting lionfish.
Enjoy
I believe that this could be part of a viable population control method...I read that in Thailand they had a problem with a particular insect eating their crops...they tried eradicating them with pesticides for years and had no luck. The insect didn’t have natural enemies so the Thai government put out recipes for the bug and now they have no problems with the bug eating their crops.
Time to wade in on this one! Neither 'balance' nor 'ecosystems' exist in this context. Nature is constantly changing; big changes little changes, cataclysmic changes. Species went extinct long before we came along and will continue to do so once we are gone. Defining any part of the ocean as an ecosystem would require the ability to define the limits and since all oceans connect, and rivers from land feed the sea, the idea of a closed system is misleading. That, however, is rather beside the point.
I work in Grand Cayman and last year we had no lionfish. This year we have caught ten off one shore site alone with reported sightings of another eight. About 150 have been caught island-wide so far as I am aware. Some are now very close to a six inch body length which means sexual maturity. I was a bit cynical about the whole culling programme, it's not the first time an invasive species has been dropped in the wrong place, but duly went along to the talk. The numbers are pretty bad news for anyone who makes their living off the water.
It is not a certainty that grouper do eat lionfish, a couple of grouper have been found with lionfish in their stomachs but not many and one in captivity at a lionfish but it may have been conditioned to eat anything dropped in the tank. It takes 4-7 years for a grouper to reach 400-450mm in length at which time it can reproduce. A 1.2m grouper will be about 30 years old. It looks as though a lionfish in the Caribbean will be sexually mature in six months and for some reason (warmth of water, amount of food) they get to be 50% bigger than in their natural environment. The largest caught so far was 470mm long. Farming and releasing Grouper will be a very slow process. Incedentally, in their natural environment lionfish do not have any major predators either, the limiting factor on their population is not well understood. Since the Red Sea only got them when the Suez opened up, the answer may lie there.
They can eat fish about half their body length, maybe a little more. They eat anything! The first reports have come from the Bahamas that some have been found with baby lobsters and shrimp in their stomachs; they have cleaned the reef of other fish. We were also shown a photograph of a dissected lionfish that had 21 juvenile grunts in its stomach. They digest very quickly so that would be one day's eating. They can also fold their fins back and get into some surprisingly small holes, in fact they prefer to hide in holes especially if they've been harassed.
A female is able to lay some 30 000 eggs a month, every month in water this warm. It is possible that in the Pacific something eats the eggs but that is not the case here.
One thing is for sure, they are here to stay. The best we can do is catch as many as possible to slow the spread and enable the other species to learn to live with them. If they carry on at their present rate, they will wipe out a number of species beyond their capacity for recovery. As some of those species disappear the reefs will go too. Since more than one industry relies on those reefs and associated life we should make some effort to limit the spread. From what we know, they are all genetically very similar so I'm all for introducing a mutation to limit their reproductive ability. It's working for mosquitoes and they are notoriously difficult to spear.
I work in Grand Cayman and last year we had no lionfish. This year we have caught ten off one shore site alone with reported sightings of another eight. About 150 have been caught island-wide so far as I am aware. Some are now very close to a six inch body length which means sexual maturity. I was a bit cynical about the whole culling programme, it's not the first time an invasive species has been dropped in the wrong place, but duly went along to the talk. The numbers are pretty bad news for anyone who makes their living off the water.
It is not a certainty that grouper do eat lionfish, a couple of grouper have been found with lionfish in their stomachs but not many and one in captivity at a lionfish but it may have been conditioned to eat anything dropped in the tank. It takes 4-7 years for a grouper to reach 400-450mm in length at which time it can reproduce. A 1.2m grouper will be about 30 years old. It looks as though a lionfish in the Caribbean will be sexually mature in six months and for some reason (warmth of water, amount of food) they get to be 50% bigger than in their natural environment. The largest caught so far was 470mm long. Farming and releasing Grouper will be a very slow process. Incedentally, in their natural environment lionfish do not have any major predators either, the limiting factor on their population is not well understood. Since the Red Sea only got them when the Suez opened up, the answer may lie there.
They can eat fish about half their body length, maybe a little more. They eat anything! The first reports have come from the Bahamas that some have been found with baby lobsters and shrimp in their stomachs; they have cleaned the reef of other fish. We were also shown a photograph of a dissected lionfish that had 21 juvenile grunts in its stomach. They digest very quickly so that would be one day's eating. They can also fold their fins back and get into some surprisingly small holes, in fact they prefer to hide in holes especially if they've been harassed.
A female is able to lay some 30 000 eggs a month, every month in water this warm. It is possible that in the Pacific something eats the eggs but that is not the case here.
One thing is for sure, they are here to stay. The best we can do is catch as many as possible to slow the spread and enable the other species to learn to live with them. If they carry on at their present rate, they will wipe out a number of species beyond their capacity for recovery. As some of those species disappear the reefs will go too. Since more than one industry relies on those reefs and associated life we should make some effort to limit the spread. From what we know, they are all genetically very similar so I'm all for introducing a mutation to limit their reproductive ability. It's working for mosquitoes and they are notoriously difficult to spear.
Well said. Not sure about how mutation will work, though, and you can bet some fish huggers are going to object to screwing around with the DNA. For now I think the best you can do is to try to protect the commercially viable areas and with regards to diving that means the reefs where divers congregate. Do recreational divers hunt them in the Caymans?
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