Abaco Lionfish Hunt

Here is a recent email and pictures from a couple of lionfish hunters fro Abaco.

We got twenty of them on November 4th. They were very concentrated on some rocks in the Sea of Abaco in relatively shallow water (6-12) off of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. We did not see many on the reefs in the Atlantic...we shot one in the Atlantic on Oct 27th.

On November 4th we were targeting the lionfish specifically....after seeing some of the videos on Youtube and looking at your site, we decided to spend a day hunting them. I put on a temporaryLionFish Tattoo I had found on the internet before we left for the bahamas.

I wonder if Sharks or Grouper or large Snapper will be able to develop into Lionfish predators over time to establish a balance?

Best of luck to you.

jim

Morehead City NC man makes effort to educate about the lionfish problem

here is a letter I recently received :

Hi Maurice,

As an introduction, my name is Niels Lindquist. I live in Morehead City, NC and am a Professor of Marine Sciences at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences. I've been diving here off the NC coast since 1989 and witnessed the beginning of the NC lionfish invasion in 2000. I've also been diving around San Salvador for many years and watched as the lionfish moved in beginning in 2006. What an on-going disaster!

I've enjoyed looking over your website and videos. We need as many people out there as possible trying to cull the lionfish populations and working to create culinary-based markets for the fish.

Like you and your friends, my friends and I have been whacking lionfish in both NC and the Bahamas. I have some colleagues doing funded lionfish research, but for me, observing, catching and eating lionfish is not university related research. This keeps me from having to deal with the university's Animal Care and Use Committee.

I too have posted a few lionfish-related videos on youtube and just wanted to draw your attention and that of your website visitors to them. One is just a short clip of spearing lionfish on a dive in San Salvador and another one of an impromptu lionfish capture in the Florida Keys. Put a nice soundtrack on that one.

The first one in the list below is one that I posted a few weeks ago. It chronicles a trip off the NC coast during which I speared a batch of lionfish and tried a new method for detoxifying them. Basically, just a light freezing accomplished by placing speared lionfish in an iced salt brine seems to do the job. Relatively easy and only simple materials needed. Please excuse the first couple of words of the video title "About time" as this was put up there to attract attention. I've notice that youtube videos that include a catchy or unusual phrasing seem to get more hits. It too was a jab at me because it took me much longer than intended to edit and post the video.

Keep up the great work educating people about the lionfish problem and providing information allowing the safe capture and preparation and delicious recipes.

Cheers, Niels Lindquist


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBE7zWZDgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBE7zWZDgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOwDUFSG1_k

Please watch these great underwater videos

Turks and Caicos

Jim form Morehead City NC. recently visited the Turks and Caicos and captured these fish while on a dive. Seems that the lionfish have taken over the most southern regions of the Bahamas. Thanks Jim for your photos and stories.

22 Lionfish Caught in Current Area

Dave from Current took us out on his adopted reefs to clean them of lionfish. We got 22! Other groups of boaters joined us on the hunt. Among them was a 10 year old young man, Joseph, who speared 4! You can view the video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWVq0eCLn94 .

An interesting note: I speared one lionfish and introduced him to a spotted moray eel. The eel devoured him in seconds! The eel was around 3ft and the lionfish was around 8". Proof that the moray eel is a natural predator of the lionfish! Recently a friend of mine, who is a lobster fisherman, did an experiment while gathering lobster. He injured a lionfish and noticed within seconds a trigger fish devouring the lionfish. Proof that the trigger fish is a natural predator of the lionfish. I also tried to find juvenile lionfish on the reefs and only found one during the whole day of fishing. Either they are hiding well or being eaten by something. This needs to be looked into further. Please help in our efforts to clean the reefs of these fish and document your findings by submitting lionfish stories here.

Columbus Ohio Man LOSES Crown :(

That's right Tom! Your lionfish record has been SHATTERED! Check out these two beauties! One was 14 7/8" BUT THE OTHER ONE WAS 15", SHATTERING YOUR RECORD! I know this is a hard pill to swallow but I am The Lionfish Hunter and I refuse to be beaten by some landlocked back cracker (inside joke- Tom is a chiropractor). Keep trying people. I will remain on top as long as there are challengers. These lionfish were caught off the cays right behind Governors Harbor airport along with 15 others. I took them to the docks at James Cystern and educated a dozen or more locals on how clean and eat them. Then I gave away all but these two. Great dinner that night!  

Columbus Ohio man challenges the Mojo

Tom, from ohio, bags his record lionfish. He proudly brought the fish over to my house to challenge my biggest lionfish yet. Unfortunately for him he did not succeed. He attempted to stretch the mouth of the fish past my record fish's 14.5" length. At best he tied my record and I do commend him for his effort to help eradicate the little rascals. So, Tom, keep up the good work and we will see you next year when I will have a 17 incher under my belt. Tom got 8 lionfish on his vacation.

Berry Island lionfish record

Looks like we have another giant lionfish record. This picture was sent by Lauren from Great Harbor Cay Marina. She enjoyed a great lionfish dinner that night and suggests this recipe: Cover fish in mayo and then dredge in parmesan cheese. Bake for 8 minutes or wrap in foil and grill. By the way Lauren, do you know how long this fish was? Please leave a note in the comments. Thanks 

UNOFFICIAL NEW RECORD

Big Bob from Current bagged this monster lionfish in front of Oleander Gardens in Eleuthera. Looks to be around 17". WOW!