Conversationalists indirectly asked for the public's help in controlling the invasive Lionfish population by suggesting it can be added to many restaurant menus, according to a Scientific American report.
Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific, but are now established along the southeast coast of the U.S., the Caribbean, and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Invasive lionfish threaten native fish and the environment in U.S. Atlantic coastal waters. While the exact cause of how this fish species migrated from the Indo-pacific to the U.S. coastal waters remains a mystery, experts speculate that human activities may be responsible.
Conversationalists have sought the help of the public to combat the growing numbers of this invasive fish. During a one-day derby event participants from Bahamas caught 1,400 of the fish and ate them, reducing local population of the lionfish by 60 percent.
"We're finding throughout the region that local control is very successful at keeping numbers down," said Lad Akins of the nonprofit Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), according to the Yahoo report which cites Scientific American. "Divers and snorkelers are removing them and we're actually seeing native fish communities coming back."
According to Green, such derbies are the best way to control lionfish population growth. Not only do they train and engage people to remove lionfish, they also promote a market for it, effectively suppressing its population at a local scale. Green said that derbies are also a great place to get skeptical people to taste the fish, indirectly encouraging them to order it the next time they walk into s restaurant. The fish is known to have a higher level of omega-3 fatty acids than other commonly consumed Caribbean fishes.
"It's very mild and buttery, and lends itself to many different recipes," Akin observed. "So it has good taste and health benefits. It should also be a top choice for environmental reasons-it's not just sustainable, but actually needs to be consumed."
As lionfish are not native to Atlantic waters they have very few predators, hence, their number has being growing at a significant rate posing a great threat to native Atlantic marine life. Their arrival has caused "extreme disruption to native fish communities," according to the International Coral Reef Initiative, which is studying what to do about this lionfish invasion. Additionally, their far-from-picky eating habits have allowed them to thrive wonderfully in Atlantic waters.
"A lionfish will eat almost any fish smaller than it is," Stephanie Green, a research fellow at Oregon State University, said in an earlier study. "Regarding the large fish we observed in the submersible dives, a real concern is that they could migrate to shallower depths as well and eat many of the fish there. And the control measures we're using at shallower depths - catch them and let people eat them - are not as practical at great depth."
The vastness of lionfish population was discovered in July this year during an Oregon State University expedition. Researchers were aware that the lionfish were thriving in numbers and becoming a major threat to native fish, but the existence of a lionfish population in the deep waters of the ocean was larger than expected.
Green and her colleagues found a thriving population of lionfish around a sunken ship at 300 feet below the water's surface. While lionfish are typically between 12 and 15 inches long, the lionfish discovered by researchers on this expedition were at least 16 inches long. Lionfish attack other fish by using its large, fan-like fins to herd smaller fish into a corner and then swallow them in a rapid strike. The venom released by their sharp spines can cause extremely painful stings to humans.
