View Full Version : Whole Foods to Sell Lionfish
Oh man!
Last weekend Whole Foods announced they will start selling Lionfish.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/05/26/florida-whole-foods-invasive-lionfish-food/84962286/
As a kid, I always wanted a Lionfish but my parents never let me get one because they were afraid that it would sting me due to my own negligence--probably true. Now that I'm back in the reefing hobby, and although they are beautiful and "majestic" (or lazy), I'm not interested in keeping one. As many of you know, they are an invasive species in Florida and kill much of the reef animals there. Also, I am planning to do the Lionfish Derby as well. My girlfriend used to have one named Mufasa as a pet and also would have no problem doing the Derby.
I'm curious to hear everyone's perspective on both keeping Lionfish as their pets, eating them as food, and stabbing them to death, as I seem to be OK with doing either one of those three.
Cheers,
Joey
steallife904
06/03/2016, 01:48 PM
All for stabbing them and eating them! I live in Jacksonville FL so have heard of them for a while destroying the reefs further south. I have also heard of people catching them and seeing them here in Jax. Something needs to be done to stop them so I am all for it.
Fissues
06/03/2016, 02:33 PM
Yes! Kill the invaders!
DivingTheWorld
06/03/2016, 02:38 PM
I've had them in my tanks when I was a kid and I love seeing them when we dive (in Asia, not US or Caribbean). I also have had some enjoyable dives spearfishing them in the Caribbean. They taste delicious! If I lived in Florida, I'd dive for them all the time.
Damn! Thanks for the responses. I heard they are really amazing to eat too! I can't wait to try one. Seems like a lot of people share the same views.
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OrQidz
06/03/2016, 05:24 PM
Catching and eating them sounds good to me! They are invasive so no concerns about overfishing, and if they are tasty, makes sense. Now I want to try some.
The Derby is a competition, who can get the most Lionfish. I'm feeling a team "Reef Central" this summer! Any takers?
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ecotanker
06/03/2016, 08:41 PM
Yes, definitely catch and eat them! I would love to try some, so thanks for the info about whole foods stocking them.
CuzzA
06/03/2016, 09:00 PM
We're headed in the right direction.
I think our gov't should let us recreational spearos sell them to restaurants and fish markets. Set up a registration and reporting system and have stiff mandatory minimum sentences for any rec fisherman/spearo selling any other species.
Yes, definitely catch and eat them! I would love to try some, so thanks for the info about whole foods stocking them.
Anytime.
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We're headed in the right direction.
I think our gov't should let us recreational spearos sell them to restaurants and fish markets. Set up a registration and reporting system and have stiff mandatory minimum sentences for any rec fisherman/spearo selling any other species.
Sounds like a good idea to encourage people to hunt and keep their population down. I'm not educated on fishing regulations. I imagine you need some hefty permits to fish for commercial use.
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davocean
06/04/2016, 09:46 AM
They were so invasive at one point I heard some people were paid to fish/spear them, not sure how true that is or if it was followed through that way or not.
I know some restraunts were really promoting them, they are very similar to sculpin which taste great, so I'm all for it.
CuzzA
06/05/2016, 07:47 AM
Also, our silly government should rescind the ban on them as an aquarium species. Lionfish are here to stay. In fact, while they are technically invasive, at this point they are just as much part of the ecosystem as any other species and will never be eradicated. Why prohibit another (financially motivated) source of removal? It doesn't make sense.
cougareyes
06/05/2016, 09:30 AM
You guys stink, I have a lionfish reef tank with a fuzzy, zebra, fu man chu, and antennata. I know they are becoming invasive and I don't see a problem with eating them, after all we are human.
You guys stink, I have a lionfish reef tank with a fuzzy, zebra, fu man chu, and antennata. I know they are becoming invasive and I don't see a problem with eating them, after all we are human.
Post a pic! I want to see your reef.
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cougareyes
06/05/2016, 12:51 PM
It's a 90g
davocean
06/05/2016, 02:16 PM
You guys stink, I have a lionfish reef tank with a fuzzy, zebra, fu man chu, and antennata. I know they are becoming invasive and I don't see a problem with eating them, after all we are human.
Why do we stink, it sounds like we are all in agreement w/ each other?
Keep your pets but eat the wild invasive ones!
cougareyes
06/05/2016, 03:46 PM
Why do we stink, it sounds like we are all in agreement w/ each other?
Keep your pets but eat the wild invasive ones!
I was just kidding, we are in agreement. I think I've even eaten cat or dog or something I wasn't sure of. I dont know how to make the symbols of just kidding.
davocean
06/05/2016, 04:29 PM
Ah gotcha, sometimes the smilies help w/ that, but I agree, fish are both friend, and food!
downbeach
06/05/2016, 04:34 PM
On the FW side, they should start this with Snake Heads too.
Tahiti
06/05/2016, 04:48 PM
That's awesome! They say lionfish is really tasty!
PeterHall
06/05/2016, 04:53 PM
When we dove in the Grand Caymans our captain and guides speared lion fish all week. At the end of the week we had lionfish fish and chips! I quite liked it but anything tastes good battered and fried.
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It's a 90g
Your tank looks beautiful. What other live stock do you have in that?
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When we dove in the Grand Caymans our captain and guides speared lion fish all week. At the end of the week we had lionfish fish and chips! I quite liked it but anything tastes good battered and fried.
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Mm that sounds amazing.
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cougareyes
06/05/2016, 07:09 PM
Your tank looks beautiful. What other live stock do you have in that?
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Just the 4 lions
Just the 4 lions
And that's the problem. If we don't eat them the whole ocean is going to be "just the 4 lions..."
C.Eymann
06/06/2016, 03:54 PM
I had some down in Belize can't say if its good or not because it was served fried and, well everything is good fried.
Did see a ton of them while diving which was sad. Dive guides were nailing them left and right with Hawaiian slings.
McPuff
06/22/2016, 12:08 PM
Have seen them in Cozumel and Belize... and even captured some juveniles and killed them. The dive guides say they kill them all the time but we still saw a bunch of large adults on the dives. They are certainly here to stay so we might as well harvest them as heavily as possible if they are tasty. They can decimate a reef fish assemblage since there is really not much that has adapted to feeding on them... maybe Caribbean triggers will get smart one of these days?? :0)
And they are literally everywhere in the Caribbean and along the Atlantic coast... up into Long Island Sound. I have had them as pets in the past but now I get a little angry when I see them.
Reeflife916
07/03/2016, 05:21 PM
I always wanted to try lionfish!
MorganAtlanta
07/03/2016, 08:48 PM
Snappers in grand cayman now follow divers around hoping for a free meal. They will even bird-dog lions, but won't take them until a diver stabs them.
Dmorty217
07/04/2016, 10:16 AM
Have seen them in Cozumel and Belize... and even captured some juveniles and killed them. The dive guides say they kill them all the time but we still saw a bunch of large adults on the dives. They are certainly here to stay so we might as well harvest them as heavily as possible if they are tasty. They can decimate a reef fish assemblage since there is really not much that has adapted to feeding on them... maybe Caribbean triggers will get smart one of these days?? :0)
And they are literally everywhere in the Caribbean and along the Atlantic coast... up into Long Island Sound. I have had them as pets in the past but now I get a little angry when I see them.
This is true and very sad. I was on a cruise 10 years ago and saw them in the Bahamas, also on a island that Royal Caribbean owned. Sad to see how much worse the problem has gotten
Yeah it's real bad. It's a shame because it's not the fishes fault. Humans put them there.
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SaltySully
07/10/2016, 04:14 AM
They have done well getting there numbers down in the keys, I Dive the reef almost every day and don't see any. They are still on the deeper reefs/wrecks but not thick in the shallows. BTW, to sell them in Florida you just need a spl.
CuzzA
07/11/2016, 07:20 AM
We killed 10 big fat lionfish yesterday. One of the best tasting fish out there.
We killed 10 big fat lionfish yesterday. One of the best tasting fish out there.
That looks good!
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rt67ghy
07/12/2016, 10:01 AM
I love lionfish. I have a volitans and keep it in a 100g tank with a snowflake moray eel and a chocolate chip starfish. I would never dream of eating them; they are spectacular-looking fish and I feel bad seeing them being speared. Obviously I understand why they are being killed. I think if they weren't an invasive species a lot more people would be keeping them in their homes.
Butch01
07/29/2016, 01:56 PM
There's a restaurant in San Pedro, Belize that specializes in locally caught (grin) lion fish. They pay local kids to spear them for them, which is good for the kids, good for the ecology of their very stressed reef (the biggest outside the Great Barrier), and GREAT for eating! One of the best eating fish I've come across. I'd totally support Whole Foods and anyone else who helps rid the western hemisphere of this scourge. And a pox on the idiot aquarist(s) who released them in the first place.
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