According to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science lionfish have the potential to be the "most disastrous marine invasion in history”. The good news is that the fish are exceptionally tasty. We can actually use our 'eat them untill they are all gone' tactics to remove these invasive animals from the Atlantic. They do have spines which carry a toxin, but once removed the fish is safe to eat. They are popular in the aquarium trade and it is believed that the growing Atlantic population originated from releases beginning in the 1980's.
Click here for more information on eating lionfish at NISIC. To read a research article on controling the population
click here.
