DANGEROUS LIONFISH and How Humans Attempt to Tame the Lions' So Close to Our Coasts
UPDATE! On 10/13/21 Wicked Tuna began offering a new and delicious lionfish dinner at their 4123 US17-Business, Murrells Inlet location, known as "The Seafood Capital of the South."
We're hoping they will bring them back soon for 2023, whether it be there or in their newer Myrtle Beach location.
Given our 2020 "new normal" this year in light of the stress of the pandemic, restrictions, and overall uncertainties, several friends have mentioned that they want something new and different to put a little excitement on their holiday dinner tables and asked if I had any suggestions.
Lionfish immediately came to mind!
Another adjustment for all of us in the throes of our "new normal" is that restaurants are not open or as available to us as in the past. So now, many of us have stepped up to the plate and the stove- literally as well, and are doing a lot more experimenting and finding a new joy and fulfillment cooking at home.
For those of us also interested in giving our ecosystems the best chance we can to thrive, I wanted to share what I've learned about this most interesting yet invasive and deadly fish. Deadly to our coral reefs and our indigenous species, but not to us. It's absolutely delicious!
PHOTO by Penelope Penn at Fleet Landing Restaurant
Sous Chef Brian Barber became an expert in preparing and cooking the invasive lionfish.
Lionfish to me is the perfect blend of firm flesh and mild flavor. For me, the taste has never been fishy or too strong. It lends itself perfectly to various forms of preparation that range from frying to steaming, and also whatever sauce you prefer, whether it be sweet or savory.
PHOTO by Penelope Penn at Fleet Landing
Lionfish quickly became a popular menu item, here at Fleet Landing Restaurant in Charleston
Brian Barber first learned of the lionfishes' danger when he was working on the South Carolina coast at Fleet Landing and in the years following, his efforts to diminish their negative impact became his passion. His quest ran the gamut from finding fishermen willing to brave spearing the spiny fish, to providing specimens to scientists trying to mitigate their damage. As his passion grew, so did Brian's determination to find answers to the problem the fish were causing so he started promoting them in restaurants. He said he noticed that all of the lions' stomachs typically contained at least 10-12 baby Groupers. Grouper is a delicious fish and popular in restaurants. But there's a lot more to his discovery.
It meant that over a dozen fish in one lionfish's stomach weren't going to live to adulthood which translated to a waste of thousands of pounds of fish and even more dollars for restauranteurs, and less meals for their patrons. To help get the word out about the invasive lions' Brian also traveled to cooking competitions, posted his newfound knowledge on facebook, and was always enthusiastic to share recipes and the interesting saga of this aggressive intruder.
They're beautiful fish in the safe and eternal confines of an aquarium. They're deadly in our oceans.
And delicious on our plates.
While the meat is tender and moist, the long, sharp spines are filled with venom. But unlike poisonous fish, like the Puffer and Stone Fish for example, research scientists reported to me that the lionfish's venom is in their spines, not in their flesh.
That is great news for diners, but not for the fishermen trying to catch them and remove them from their spears, or the people who have to delicately remove over a dozen of the sharp spines in order to prep them to be cooked.
PHOTO by Penelope Penn
Two Florida divers with their catch after a week at sea, stalking the lionfish off the Carolina coasts
Shortly after dawn, Captain Tony (right) and his boat full of lionfish pulled into the SC shore with their admirable catch of the beautiful but spiny fish. And I had to be there with my trusty Nikon, to see how successful his week at sea would prove to be for these brave divers. I was surprised - and a little alarmed that he found all the fish within only 10 miles of the SC coast. Tony said the only way to catch them was to spear them because they had no need to leave their cushy territories and go search for a hook with food. It wasn't just the problem of dodging their dangerous, painful spines, but also of dodging the sharks that invariably chase the fish string you are dragging. He recounted one time when he turned around to find himself staring in the face of a Great White Shark. He quickly thrust the wiggling lionfish he'd just speared in the face of the shark and said it immediately turned around and swam away. Since then, a lot of research has been done and attempts made to ingratiate this unpopular fish to would be predators like sharks. It was Tony's experience he said that even sharks knew better than to mess with lionfish, no matter how hungry. A predator may lose all perspective in a feeding frenzy for example, but whether it could survive the toxin from the lionfishes' spines is debatable said the scientists I interviewed.
Captain Tony said lionfish have no actual predators - except for spear fishermen willing to take them on. He said he could make a lot more money selling docile and larger fish like Groupers that typically weigh 20 or 200 pounds vs the lionfish he found which averaged 1-2 pounds and occasionally 3 pounds max. He became impassioned however, to help rid the oceans of them when he noticed that reefs were dying at an incredible rate where lionfish were present, as he fished them from one year to the next.
Brian became so committed to find a viable solution to the ever-increasing numbers of lions' ravaging our oceans, that he sought out and formed a bond with these fishermen. Then he would drive over an hour from his home early in the morning to pick up their fresh catch, right off the boat to take them to the restaurant. Word spread and adventurous diners began coming from all over to eat the curious fare and it soon became hard to get a table there on a night when they were serving lionfish.
The fish had been made available in the states by entrepreneurs and ecologists in the Caribbean, but they were expensive and came with an added shipping charge. Making it available in a Charleston restaurant; on the regular menu and not a specialty item from foreign waters for a special event, was cutting edge in the industry. And it opened a whole new realm for the sustainable seafood initiative and diners alike.
Harvesting them locally is incredibly rewarding too, and not just because it costs less. We're making a difference in our own little necko'thwood. Lionfish aficionados like my friends and I, not only enjoy a delicious fish meal but feel the satisfaction of knowing we're helping to save reefs along our own coasts. Reefs that filter water for us and provide food and a safe haven for vulnerable young fish to thrive and for our other indigenous species to grow to adulthood and reproduce.
Lionfish rodeos have been popular in the Caribbean and off our southern coast for years, to encourage enthusiasts to get as many of the invasive species out of their waters as possible. And lionfish are still available online to be shipped to your home. One year even the grocery chain, Whole Foods stocked them for sale, so keep checking there.
The challenge for divers north of the Caribbean and Florida in Fall and Winter though, is that the fish do fine in the cool waters but there aren't as many divers to harvest them when it's cold. Today though, I've noticed more fish markets like Wicked Inlet Seafood in Murrells Inlet, SC where spear fishermen catch and make them available as often as possible. I hope we will see even more restaurants and fish marts jumping on the ecological bandwagon and selling lionfish now, fresh and frozen to home cooks.
PHOTO by Penelope Penn in Shem Creek
A black and white Lionfish in the old RBs restaurant aquarium on Shem Creek in Mt Pleasant, SC
For additional information visit:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/RestaurantsNear-g54354-d103516-Shem_Creek_Inn-Mount_Pleasant_South_Carolina.html
If some of these photos look familiar, it's because I posted them along with an article on CNN a few years ago, so thank you for following me on blogspot. There were so many people interested and concerned about the invasive lions' that my piece garnered "the most commented article" CNN producers told me and also generated spin offs from other journalists. Kindly, they gave me permission to use my photos here. Since it's an uphill and continuing battle to try to mitigate their damage at the very least, I felt I should update and post it on my blog. Happy holidays and bon appetit all!
Photographs taken by and the property of Penelope Penn
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