May 16, 2015 — Kill them and grill them.
That’s what organizers of the inaugural Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day festival at Plaza de Luna on Palafox Pier this weekend are urging people to do to help eradicate the invasive species from Gulf waters.
“They are just spreading so rapidly,” said Amanda Nalley, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “A lot of people don’t know they are tasty. Some people put them in their aquariums.”
The festival was organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and its sponsors include Guy Harvey magazine. Harvey is an artist and nature conservationist who lives in the Cayman Islands. This year’s event featured a tournament with scuba divers vying for more than $3,600 in cash, diving trips and other prizes. Tournament Director Andy Ross with the Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition said 54 divers signed up, but the rough waters made it hard for boats to go out Friday and Saturday. His business, Niuhi Dive Charters, donated a trip as a prize. Other prizes include Aqua Adventures giving away a chartered fishing excursion and an H2O Below diving trip.
Tournament categories include the team of divers that catch the most fish, the team that catches the most live ones to donate to researchers and other individual categories, like catching the biggest lionfish. The fish started appearing in Gulf waters in 2010, and they can exceed 18 inches in length.
Read the full story at the Pensacola News Journal