Is it safe to eat Lionfish?

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I looked at the different forums and wasn't sure where to post this questions. Mods, please move to a better spot if needed.

Is it safe to eat lionfish? I know it's becoming a desired dish in the Caribbean these days, with everyone trying to create a market for the pesky fish. But I've also seen some conflicting reports in magazines about high toxin levels in it's meat. I understand you need to be careful cleaning the fish, but how safe is the meat to eat? Both as an occasional consumer and a somewhat regular consumer.

Thanks,
PH

 

[ektess1]

There are no toxins in the flesh. It is all in the spines. They taste great. I bring in several ever dive.
Ed

 

[kierentec]

here in the virgin islands, researchers have found a significant amount of the ciguatera toxin in lion fish. it's not the actual fish that is toxic, it comes from the algae the fish they prey on eat. its also very common in other reef predator fish like barracuda, snapper and grouper. I know people are eating them on many of the other Caribbean islands, but we stay away. having food poisoning for months isn't very appealing to me.


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[bleeb]

here in the virgin islands, researchers have found a significant amount of the ciguatera toxin in lion fish. it's not the actual fish that is toxic, it comes from the algae the fish they prey on eat. its also very common in other reef predator fish like barracuda, snapper and grouper. I know people are eating them on many of the other Caribbean islands, but we stay away. having food poisoning for months isn't very appealing to me.

Just to highlight, this form of toxin is not specific to lion fish, but is common to all predatory fish in the area. It's all down to whether the particular dinoflagellates are common in that area. Also note that like red tide with shellfish, cooking will not remove or deactivate the toxin.

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

So it depends on the area? Where the toxin is prevelent, it's unsafe to eat any predatory fish in that area. How would one know if that is the case?

Thanks for the replies.

PH