…lionfish on the table

Dr. Christopher Tufton, the Minister responsible for what’s left of Jamaica’s fisheries, wants Jamaicans to eat the lionfish that have invaded our waters in the last few years.  Dr. Tufton observed on a number of occasions this summer that promoting lions as table fish would “not only save the already depleted fish stock, but provide the platform for the sustainability of the island's fisheries.”

This may be too much to hope for, but at least the Minister has recognized a problem  There is a Lionfish Sub-committee (including Food for the Poor and the Culinary Federation of Jamaica) looking into “effective control and management initiatives”.

The Minister has a point.  Lionfish are safe to handle once their poisoned spines have been removed, there are lots of them, and they are good to eat – like a cross between snapper and grouper.  In fact, without those poison spines, lions would be ideal food fish:

• They spawn year-round, and each female produces about two million eggs at a time.
• They grow fast -- the babies reach breeding size in about a year, and table size within two years.
• They can live anywhere from shallow mud bottoms to deep reefs, and eat anything that fits in their big mouths.
• They are easy to catch – always hungry and not shy.

• They can be served whole or filleted, fried or roasted, and taste especially good in a seviche.

Jamaica is following the example of the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, where organized lionfish hunting derbies (and lionfish feasts) have been going on for several years.  According to Nelsa English, National Project Coordinator for the Invasive Alien Species Project in Jamaica, "Since the lionfish has no aggressive natural predators the only way to control its population is through human consumption.  The Bahamas has a similar problem with the lionfish, and they have been eating the fish for years.”

Not quite.  In fact, the lionfish has plenty of aggressive natural predators.  We just killed them all before the lions got here.  In the Bahamas, the one place still free from invasion is the fully protected Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, which still has a healthy grouper population.  Also, Bahamian researchers found that just to keep an area’s lionfish population from growing, they had to remove at least a quarter of the mature fish every month for a full year.

There is a profit opportunity for Jamaican fishing communities that will train and equip their members to handle lionfish safely.  Restaurants will buy and serve lionfish – likely at a premium price – if they can be sure of a regular supply of properly cleaned fish.  Since proper cleaning needs extra time and care, the suppliers should also be able to command a premium price.

Eating lionfish by itself won’t restore Jamaica’s fish population or bring back a profitable commercial fishery.  However, we do need to get rid of as many lionfish as we can, because they’re eating all the baby parrots and grunts and snappers and jacks.  We might as well have a good meal and make a dollar while we’re at it.

Note: There is a very good selection of lionfish recipes at www.lionhunter.com