[Coral-List] On the preparation of LionFish for eating

[Megan Banka]

Hi Lane,

In response to your second question, the article you posted is quite
mistaken -- lionfish are not poisonous but venomous.  The spines are what
deliver the venom, remove these, and the rest of the fish is safe to eat!
Not only that but they are very tasty -- our organization in Playa del
Carmen, Mexico stages hunts weekly and we always eat the catch.  The local
restaurants here (and elsewhere in the region) have caught on and the
demand for lionfish is growing among consumers (also applauded as a more
sustainable option as opposed to the commonly caught/overfished grouper and
snapper).

Regarding the first question, yes, lionfish typically live in holes and
crevices within the reef -- typically, they are caught via spearfishing.  I
agree that having success with nets (at least those deployed from a
fisherman on the surface) seems unlikely.

Cheers!

Megan

---------------------------------------------------
Spotted Drum Expeditions
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
sd-expeditions.com


On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 1:04 PM, Lane W <dryland404 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I saw on the news that Florida Restaurants are asking fisherman to start
> netting Lion Fish.
>
> http://www.flmrg.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=238
>
> "SW Florida restaurants urging fisherman to cast for lionfish
> <http://www.flmrg.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=238>"
>
> I see two possible issues with this.
> 1. They tend to hang out around the reefs, so netting is not a great policy
> I would think around reefs and coral.
>  and
> 2. more of a question. Is there something besides removing the spines that
> is necessary to make them non poisonous?
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