http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/tech/innovation/lionfish-infestation-atlantic-linendoll/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Damn Floridians. First they fuck up the everglades with their boas, now they've essentially fucked the reefs in the Atlantic. And the Atlantic is pretty hard to fuck up. BP even failed to fuck it when they had their oil spill.

10/19/2013 9:35:27 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVuTW7dBqpA

10/19/2013 10:01:36 AM

Whenever I think of lionfish, I think of djeternal's dad.

10/19/2013 10:03:25 AM

I don't think this has anything to do with FL.

I've seen a bunch of them diving around Pensacola. I've been meaning to buy a gig or Hawaiian sling.

10/19/2013 10:26:38 AM

Quote :

"How did they get there? Ask Florida. Florida pet owners are blamed for their release into unfamiliar waters. Believe it or not, DNA evidence traces all lionfish in the Atlantic back to only six to eight female lionfish."

10/19/2013 10:30:38 AM

There is a huge facility that NC State is involved in that does lionfish research some, it was either through Sea Grant or Center for Marine Sciences and Technology. I remember seeing it in the State alumni magazine.

Lionfish are such effective predators that they are actually suffering from obesity

10/19/2013 10:35:27 AM

^ yep. Some of them are damn near eating themselves to death.

^^ I thought the aquarium owner hypothesis was mostly rejected now? Maybe not. Maybe it's just the Hurricane Andrew part that is.

Some thing they ( or eggs) came over in the ballast tanks of cargo ships.

10/19/2013 10:43:29 AM

Here was the article that mentioned the obesity:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/07/lionfish_invasion_the_invasive_fish_are_eating_so_many_native_species_that.html

Quote :

""It's interstitial fat." "Fat?" "Fat," he says firmly. I look again. The white waxy substance hangs in globs from the stomach and intestines. It clings to most of the internal organs. Heck, there's got to be at least as much fat as anything else in this lionfish's gut. That's when I realize why he's pointing this out. "Wait ... these lionfish are overweight?" I ask, incredulous. "No, not overweight," he says. "Obese." The fish we're examining is so obese, he notes, that there are even signs of liver damage. Obese. As if the lionfish problem in North Carolina wasn't bad enough."

its a good article

10/19/2013 10:47:25 AM

Quote :

"^^ I thought the aquarium owner hypothesis was mostly rejected now? Maybe not. Maybe it's just the Hurricane Andrew part that is. "

could be. the only thing i know about them is from this article, an episode of shark tank where a guy was pitching an idea to make them mass-market seafood, and the aquarium with one in the science museum downtown.

10/19/2013 12:15:29 PM

i haven't had a chance to eat one yet, but everyone i know who has says they are one of the best tasting fish they have ever had.

10/19/2013 12:39:28 PM

i'd bet with all the fat.

10/19/2013 1:15:35 PM

so how do they stay in check in the native habitat(s)?

10/19/2013 1:53:43 PM

Something must eat the eggs if they release that many in such a short time

10/19/2013 2:31:19 PM

So a we need to do is release some predatory fish that eat lionfish and their eggs and not worry about the consequences.

10/19/2013 2:32:58 PM

I didn't realize this was just now hitting the news. But the lionfish issue has been at hand for around a decade.

Florida gets a lot of the blame mostly for one reason: as a gigantic peninsular state (i.e., the wang of America), it has an incredible amount of coastline. Therefore, it's easy to lay the blame on them. Furthermore, as far as other invasive species go, Florida is a hotbed. And the blame nearly always comes back to hobbyists, because they make an easy target without singling any one person out. Unfortunately, these introductions are almost always tied to hobby, though in some cases it might only be indirectly. A lot of finger-pointing has taken place as for the introduction and establishment of Burmese python populations (among other large constrictors), with the blame usually being set on the occasional irresponsible pet owner who decides to just release the pet and let it do its thing. Sure, this happens with pocket pets like mice, gerbils, and shit like that, but I don't know that the casual pet owner goes releasing large pythons in the back yard. That's not to argue that it's never happened, but I think you're more frequently going to hear of escapees in this manner. Nevertheless, these animals come from imports at one point or another, and a major wildlife import hub for the entire US is Miami. Just outside Miami is an absolutely gigantic protected area: Everglades National Park. Between Miami and the Everglades is the warehouses where large-scale importers house their shipments. And what happens to extreme south Florida every few years? They get completely blasted with a huge hurricane. You think those importers box up thousands upon thousands of animals, load them up on semis, and find temporary refuge while hurricanes move through? No, they sit down there and get wiped out and washed into the massive network of canals that have wrecked what was once the true Everglades ecosystem.

Alright, enough preaching. Lionfish tournaments are now supposedly a big thing down there. I go to south Florida at least once a year, and over the past few years, lionfish have been a more prominent item on menus. I've heard of lionfish being off the coast of NC for years. I hear they're delicious.

10/19/2013 4:39:08 PM

A local dive shop offers $2/dead lionfish credits for tank fills/rentals.

10/19/2013 7:07:56 PM

Same shop just raised the ante to a free tank fill (or half-priced nitrox) for every 2 dead lionfish brought in, up to 3 tanks/day.

10/21/2013 7:47:04 PM

curious.. how much does it cost to fill a tank?

10/21/2013 8:56:36 PM

this place is normally $10 for air, $16 for nitrox. that's about middle of the road, from what I've seen.

10/21/2013 10:06:08 PM

only thing is that I don't really care to be a dedicated lionfish hunter, and I don't care to boy or lug around anything to stuff the dead ones in and carry them around with.

i just want to go diving, but carry a hawaiian sling to shoot lionfish every time I see them...then shake 'em off the spear and continue on with my dive. I won't get any air tank discounts or anything, but I should be able to kill at least a couple of lionfish every time I dive.

i know some people who go out and shoot bucketfuls/cooler-fulls of them in a day, haha. i've never seen THAT many of them (maybe because there are some people around here killing the shit out of them)...or maybe some sites are more infested than others.

10/21/2013 10:38:04 PM

11/5/2013 6:49:28 PM

Had a delicious lionfish dish in Belize during my honeymoon last week. A restaurant on our island dedicates 90% of their menu to lionfish (nachos, ceviche, fritters, etc...then entrees). No one else on the island serves it...but they have a guy who fishes specifically for them. One of my best meals of the trip. I'll look out for it now...but I don't even know if it's around Charleston.

11/6/2013 12:22:28 AM

what is the taste and texture of the meat similar to?

11/6/2013 2:07:09 AM

Similar to snapper...very white and light.

11/6/2013 7:57:21 AM

Interesting. I've known about the infestation problem for a while, but did not know you could eat them, or that they tasted so good.

11/6/2013 9:40:13 AM

Quote :

". Between Miami and the Everglades is the warehouses where large-scale importers house their shipments. And what happens to extreme south Florida every few years? They get completely blasted with a huge hurricane."

Every few years? No, on average I would put it at once a decade.

11/6/2013 9:43:00 AM

One of the best fish dishes I've ever had. Rivaled the lobster we ate the entire trip. Apparently they are difficult to handle and clean, so not a lot of old fisherman like dealing with them. Pretty much something I'll jump on any time I see it on a menu from now on.

11/6/2013 9:43:59 AM

Noted, always love adding new seafood to my list.

Also this thread reminds me of Schmidt from New Girl...

11/6/2013 9:49:13 AM

^^Thanks, good to know. I'll definitely give them a shot.

11/6/2013 9:51:07 AM

Quote :

"Whenever I think of lionfish, I think of djeternal's dad."

My Dad's lionfish is alive and well at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

11/6/2013 9:56:20 AM

^ That's awesome.

11/6/2013 10:12:40 AM

They live like 15+ years in captivity, and I estimate he's probably 7 or 8. So unless the aquarium fucks up and kills him, he should be there for a while. Hoping to go check him out next summer. My sister went this past summer, but they have several lionfish so she wasn't sure which one was my Dad's.

11/6/2013 10:21:18 AM

If I didn't have to worry about money I would be a lionfish hunter

11/6/2013 10:23:52 AM

^

11/6/2013 10:29:23 AM

^^^ and I will still argue that it is a Russell's not a volitans

11/6/2013 2:15:11 PM

^^^ It's not that expensive. You can get trained and certified as a SCUBA diver for a couple hundred bucks. Mask & fins can probably be had for $50 if you shop carefully. A small spear could be had for probably $30, and I'd guess about double that if you wanted a Hawaiian sling to shoot them with. You could get by without actually purchasing any other gear (snorkel is optional; everything else can easily be rented pretty cheaply).

Gear rental for everything else you need, including 2 tanks, is $40/day at my local dive shop. A seat on a charter boat and a tip for the divemaster is on the order of $110-160 around here...so for something on the order of $300 initial buy-in, and then $150-200 per day of diving, you could kill as many lionfish as you can find.

11/6/2013 7:02:21 PM

Duke I think he was referring maybe to doing that full time, in lieu of a "real job". Or I could be wrong.

11/7/2013 8:56:24 AM

Yeah...and that's also pretty expensive just to shoot a couple fish for dinner.

11/7/2013 8:58:47 AM

Oh ok.

I look at it in terms of "go scuba diving. If you happen to see a lionfish, shoot it, but it isn't a lionfish hunt per se, and it isn't how you plan on scoring dinner ."

11/7/2013 10:26:07 AM