Beautiful, graceful and deadly. The Red Lionfish (Pterois Volitans) should not be in our waters. Known for their ornate beauty and venomous spines, lionfish are native to the coral reefs of the South Pacific, not the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea.

The introduction of this creature to our waters appears to have happened in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an aquarium in southern Florida, releasing six lionfish into Biscayne Bay. In addition to this, it is thought that many more fish may have been released into waters off the U.S. coast by unhappy aquarium enthusiasts.

Lionfish in our area are termed an invasive species. There are two large problems with these fish, due to their venomous spines they have a lack of predictors and they are voracious eaters dinning on the smaller fish in the sea, endangering many species. They have caused such a decrease in marine life in some areas that extreme measures have been taken to try and get rid of them. One marine park in Roatan, Honduras even tried to train sharks to feed on the lionfish to try to decrease their numbers. Here in Puerto Morelos we have a rule, see a lionfish, kill a lionfish. It is the only way we can protect our reef.

Lionfish don’t interact well with people either. Their spins, although not deadly, can cause lots of nasty symptoms when touched. The good news is lionfish spines are used defensively, not offensively. If you don’t touch them, they won’t touch you. Still, these are not fun fish….unless you are eating them. They are yummy! And the best thing we can do to get rid of this invasive species is to dine on them.

On the next Salsa & Sun we will start a new feature called “Restaurant Recipes” where one of our favourite chefs will teach you how to cook lionfish.