Turning the tables on voracious lionfish

Bo Petersen

The lionfish is invasive, venomous, voracious and … um … evidently pretty tasty.

Just ask "Eat the Lionfish," a Charleston-based Facebook group dedicated to "the mass slaughter and cooking of Lionfish on the east coast." The group is among a growing horde of divers, chefs and diners who have decided getting their mouths on the mild, succulent white meat is worth the risk of getting their hands around a stinging menace.

The groups are being egged on by, believe it or not, the federal government. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published the Eat Lionfish campaign brochure touting the environmental and economic advantages of harvesting a species that's decimating native fish, and introducing it to the palate of "the hungriest predators of all: People!"

And no, it doesn't taste like chicken. It tastes like grouper, aficionados say.

A restaurant in Myrtle Beach, Waterscapes, has begun serving the fish. They might eventually end up on the menus here, because tightening fishing restrictions keep chefs looking for sustainable catches. Local chefs like Drew Hedlund of Fleet Landing would love to serve them. "It's certainly a tasty fish," he said. "It's killing two birds with one stone. Dispatch the invaders and eat them."

But there are, as you might suspect, a few problems. The chief one is catching a fish that features a fan of venomous spines. The sting is like a fierce jellyfish sting.

"It's excruciating," said Sally Robinson of Charleston Scuba. Also, you pretty much have to dive to get them. The bottom fish customarily are speared; they can slip down the spear off the barbs and still lance the spearer.

You know a fish is trouble when NOAA -- the federal agency in charge of restricting catch to protect species -- wants them gone. James Morris, an ecologist with the NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, N.C., has studied lionfish since they were first found off North Carolina in 2000. His work, identifying ways to manage the population, spurred the brochure.

In some places, 200 lionfish per acre can be found, he said. For now, harvesting is the best bet for controlling them.

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Photo Rob Harding

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