From our feature, Beautiful BUT Deadly Lionfish are taking over the Caribbean, Alarm bells are sounding throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean. Lionfish is an incredibly dangerous, invasive species in Caribbean waters!
The beautiful yet deadly Lionfish’s native range is the Indo-Pacific. Most of the Lionfish now found in the Atlantic and Caribbean were proven, through DNA testing, to come from only three Lionfish believed to have been accidentally released from an aquarium during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Juvenile Lionfish have been observed as far north as Rhode Island in the United States when the water is warm, migrating south as cold weather arrives. Their year-round range now encompasses the Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to the Keys, and south to Nicaragua. They inhabit Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean islands south to Bonaire.
Lad Akins from Reef Environmental Education Foundation visited The Ocean Foundation’s office and demonstrated how to filet an invasive lionfish caught in the Bahamas, Caribbean.
Also – Renowned Chef, Capt. Jan Robinson, shares a Tasty Recipe for Cooking up Lionfish
