24,699 Lionfish removed from Florida

[Johnoly]

Listed Details credit to Lionfish University (Home - Lionfish University)

The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish tournament was held this past weekend in the panhandle of Florida in Destin. It's one of the largest lionfish weekend{plus} efforts.

Results:
1st place teams Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Derby>>>

Biggest: 456 mm Dibs on Bottom $5000;
Smallest: 77 mm In the Clouds $5000;
Most: 2898 Deep Water Mafia $5000
Total number of invasive lionfish removed: 24,699. Numbers are way up from last year: lionfish are back in force. Biggest fish at 456 mm is a tournament record. (current world record for official biggest is 499mm aka>19.6 inches)

Congrats to all the participants on removing this invasive fish that eats all the tiny fish.

 

[txdamselfish]

I bet that was a fun fish fry!

 

[Johnoly]

I bet that was a fun fish fry!

Here's the real fun...........
LF's pay $8/lb from the fish house in SE FLA. On average an LF is 1lb(some heavier / some too small to cut up). So roughly the 1st place team's formula MIGHT be:
2898 x $8 + $5000 = $28,000 earned in 2 days of spearfishing.

 

[Eric802]

I assume like any other fish, you have to have a commercial license to sell them to a restaurant?

 

[Johnoly]

I assume like any other fish, you have to have a commercial license to sell them to a restaurant?

In Florida there are several levels of seafood licensing that it must pass before it reaches the customer's mouth. In the case of Lionfish harvesting by divers they need an individual SPL license which is $50 and allows you to sell to a licensed wholesaler>> who then sells to a licensed retailer and finally to a consumer.
Lionfish are not a 'restricted species" but do have some minor rules to follow and a fish wholesaler may also have min qty, size & account requirements. But in general, almost anyone can get an SPL license and sell your lionfish catch and it can easily cover the cost of your diving as shown above.

 

[Hoag]

24,699 down. Roughly 8.5 gazillion to go! ​