Hunting Lionfish in the Caribbean (Eating Them Too!)

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It’s not every day that a girl gets to go hunting lionfish.
Lionfish, if you don’t know, are those beautiful fish with long white tendrils on their back (called dorsal spines) that flutter gracefully in the water.
Beautiful, but venomous…
Touch one of those spines, and you’ll suffer a very painful (possibly life-threatening) sting.

Hunting lionfish in the Caribbean
Over the years scuba diving in various places around the world, I was taught – “Don’t get too close to the lionfish!”
So now I’m on a dive in the Grenadine Islands in the Caribbean, trying to stay neutrally buoyant 60 feet underwater, as I get close to a cluster of large lionfish.
I want to see our dive guide, Walter, spearing lionfish.
When I first heard Walter say before our dive, “Okay, let’s try and catch some lionfish, shall we?” I was taken aback.
They’re some of the most graceful tropical reef fish. Surely we want to protect the marine life, not kill it?
As it turns out, these particular fish in the Caribbean are one exception.
Invasive lionfish

Native to the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific oceans, lionfish are an invasive fish species in the Caribbean waters.
“They’re a pest,” says Walter.
Prized as aquarium fish, it’s thought lionfish were introduced to the Caribbean (and Atlantic waters) as a result of people emptying an aquarium or two into the sea.
The problem is that lionfish are multiplying rapidly and eating the other native tropical fish, decimating their numbers.
Also, by eating juvenile parrotfish and other grazer fish, lionfish are wiping out the fish that feed on algae and help keep corals alive, so the health of the coral reefs is affected too.
And lionfish have few natural predators. (Sharks don’t like them.)
The lionfish invasion in the Caribbean has unbalanced the eco-system.
It’s gotten so bad there’s even talk of using underwater killer robots to zap them!
Well, we’re going to do our tiny bit to help right this lionfish invasion.

Lionfish are a delicacy
The good news is that lionfish taste delicious. (They’re no longer poisonous within a few minutes after they die, so lionfish are safe to eat when cooked.)
Local fishermen are now diving and fishing for this delicacy.
“In the restaurants in Bequia, lionfish cost as much as lobster,” Walter adds.
Scuba diving in the Grenadines

We start our dive at Chatham Bay off Union Island in the Grenadines.
I’ve been sailing in the area on a luxury 60-foot catamaran.

Sharon, a fellow guest on the catamaran, is my dive buddy.
We’ve zipped away from the catamaran on a small Zodiac-style skiff with Walter (who does double duty as our catamaran captain) and Michael (who will stay on the skiff to follow our bubbles that rise up from beneath).
Pssst! Chartering a yacht isn’t just for the rich and famous: Find out everything you need to know about how to charter a yacht
Spearing lionfish
Walter spots our first lionfish pretty soon after we descend down to the reef. But it’s a small thing – only a few inches big. Not much to eat there!
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He has more luck with the next one we see.
He uses a very low-tech spear gun, which operates something like a streamlined bow-and-arrow.
He hovers close, aims the tip of the spear gun about two feet away from the fish, and shoots.
Then he has to struggle to get the impaled fish into a net bag strapped to his wrist, without touching the fish or accidentally brushing up against its spines.
How to treat a lionfish sting
You may want to tuck this info away – just in case…
The intense pain you feel from a lionfish sting may make you wish you could die. But don’t worry too much. You most likely won’t.
Being “stung” means one of the lionfish’s venomous spines has punctured your skin. Check if any pieces of the spine have broken off and try to gently remove them with tweezers if you can.
Clean the wound well and apply antibiotic ointment.
The area will probably start to swell. But don’t apply ice – apply heat instead. The venom, which is protein-based, breaks down when heat is applied.
And go see a doctor! There’s a chance the wound could become badly infected and lionfish venom can cause tissue death. (Unfortunately, there’s no lionfish anti-venom.)
Now that you know how seriously bad a lionfish sting is, let’s get back to Walter…
Even though he’s not wearing gloves, it still seems like it’s no contest.
The lionfish just hang in the water, without moving. They only dart away right before the thin, one-foot spear hits them.
For me, it’s hard to see them wriggling away for a minute or so in their death throes after being impaled.

Before surfacing, Walter catches a big fish.
I’ve never seen one this big – it’s over a foot long (and a bit ugly in the face too). This one, I know, he’ll be happy with.
All told, he brings up three lionfish.
Eating lionfish

In the late afternoon, we transfer from our catamaran to stay a couple of nights in TRIBU Villas on the island of Mayreau.
Come sunset, seated with our toes in the sand and martinis in hand, we taste Walter’s breaded and deep-fried lionfish catch.
It makes up enough for several chicken-nugget-sized appie portions.
And, yes, the lionfish is tender and light-tasting. Well worth the lionfish hunting!
And I can breathe easy that I’m eating an invasive fish species that should be eaten.
But I confess, I still prefer lobster.
Sail-and-stay in the Grenadines
Tradewinds offers the “Aqua-Terra” experience – a shared charter-yacht stay combined with a shared stay at TRIBU Villas on Mayreau.
Read more about TRIBU Villas: Discover the best Caribbean villas in Barbados, Jamaica and other islands
Where are the Grenadines?
See this link to the location of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Google Maps.
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Enjoy more of the Caribbean!
St. Barts: St. Barts is the chichi island, a playground for the rich and famous. But if you plan carefully, it’s affordable even for luxury lovers with little loot! See our St. Barts travel guide.
Puerto Rico: Colorful buildings. Colorful food. Colorful people. Check out the top things to do in colorful Old San Juan.
St. Martin: Grand Case on French St. Martin is the Caribbean’s culinary capital. Stay at Hotel L’Esplanade, and you can walk to all of Grand Case’s fabulous restaurants.
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Photo credits: 4, 6, 7 © Janice Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase | 5 Tradewinds
Janice traveled to the Grenadines courtesy of Tradewinds. But she had no idea she’d be helping with the lionfish invasion solution :-).
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