530 Lionfish Nabbed at first LIONFISH DERBY in Long Key...

[DiveScoop]

Looks like the participants had some fun doing some hunting!

DiverWire.com sent Lisa Mongy out to cover the event for us. Here's a link to her story:
First Lionfish Derby Nets 530 Lionfish in Long Key

 

[Lisa Mongy]

Thanks Scott, I must say the best part was getting to eat them! So scrumpious

 

[LowVizWiz]

Whoa, look a the size of the fish on that first picture!

Whole fried fish coming right up.

 

[b-dog]

Just got back from Indonesia and was studying what eats lion-fish and we found on night dive that the black tipped reef sharks would eat lion fish when we shined a light on them. Black tipped reef sharks seem to be able to burrow into to coral and root them out. Also Emperor Snappers seem to eat the smaller ones too. So maybe the sharks and snappers in the Caribbean can adapt to eat lion-fish as well.or maybe black tipped reef sharks and Emperor Snappers could be introduced to control the lion-fish population. There do not seem to be nearly as many lion-fish in the Indonesia-Pacific as in the Caribbean. Went to Belize this winter and there were a lot of lion-fish on the reefs there but less in Indonesia as they have predators there.

 

[REEF HQ]

It's great to see your catch! Be sure to sign up for our next derby, being held on November 5, 2011 at Hurricane Hole, Key West. More info & sign up here!