Lionfish: Culinary delight to others

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The non-profit environmental group Coast Watch Alliance wants to make it easier for local divers to sell lionfish to out-of-state wholesalers and restaurants, where there appears to be a growing culinary market. The alliance informed Escambia County's Marine Advisory Council in April that they have begun work with the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus to change some regulations governing the sale of the invasive, non-native fish. Lionfish have no known predators to keep the populations down, and they eat Gulf Coast grouper and snapper. "This would make it easier for us to move lionfish up market. The demand is very high in places like Delaware," Brian Asher, director of the Pensacola-based alliance, told the Pensacola News Journal. The lionfish began to flourish off the Florida Gulf Coast in the 1980s when aquarium collectors released some of the fish in the region. Each female lionfish spawns millions of eggs annually. Coast Watch Alliance, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Gulf Coast Lionfish, Florida Sea Grant and other organizations are working together to promote awareness about the lionfish issue through a Lionfish Removal and Awareness event at the Flora-Bama Yacht Club on Perdido Key on May 19-20. (Source: Pensacola News Journal 05/02/18)