Lionfish Coming to Waters Off of Stuart Florida

Lionfish, a non-native fish to the Atlantic Ocean could soon be invading local waters here in Stuart according to scientists. The Pacific Lionfish is already taking over parts of the Caribbean and the Bahamas and will soon be moving to waters here. The fish reproduce rapidly and are being introduced into our ecosystem both by aquarium owners releasing them as pets that get to big into the Atlantic and from migrations from the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico.

It’s open season on Lionfish here because the fish is not indiginous to our waters and has no natural predators here. So they will spread rapidly and do severe damage to the aquatic ecosystem. Destroying the reefs and causing havoc among local populations of lobster, grouper, snapper and many other local species. The above video shows how to spear Lionfish and avoid being stung by the toxic fish. It even shows a few recipes for the fish which is a Chinese delicasy. If you are out diving or snorkeling soon and see some of these fish on our reefs - please feel free to take them as a souvenir. Lobster mini-season is coming up soon and with all the divers out crawling the reefs for lobster they could make a big impact on the Lionfish invasion if they killed any they saw. Spread the word!