Delicious Lionfish

[Reef_Geek]

A dive instructor I used to work with is now in Jamaica working on getting a dive operation started at the Rhodes Resort near Negril. From time to time, I get to live vicariously through his GoPro videos.

His latest... lion fish hunting with Hawaiian slings.
http://youtu.be/w9YwEpPFvZg

Before anyone gets too offended though, I will preface this with--

Lionfish, including Pterois volitans, naturally occurs in the Pacific and has never naturally occurred in the Atlantic prior to release and introduction by humans, almost definitely related to the live importation and trade activities of the aquarium business. Their establishment of breeding populations in the Atlantic has negative impacts on natural populations, especially due to the lack of predators (on adults and young) that are normally present in the Pacific.

Here are some scientific references on the issue.

http://www.vetofish.com/sites/vetofi...eef_fishes.pdf

http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2002/235/m235p289

http://link.springer.com/article/10....-9795-1#page-1

If you take no offense to this, I'll let you know, apparently lionfish fillets are quite tasty. Hopefully I'll get to visit and try lionfish tacos one day.