Lionfish lose badly in fishing tournament

(CNS):  Nearly 600 lionfish were culled in the Foster’s Food Fair Earth Month Lionfish Tournament over 24-hour period this weekend. Eight culling teams, which were sponsored by restaurants across the islands and 48 people took part in the marathon attack on the fish throughout Cayman waters. Tukka in East End was the winning restaurant as their team, the Teal Tigers, brought in 198 lionfish. 75% of the catch from the teams went to the restaurants while the remaining 25% was delivered to Foster’s Food Fair for sale in the seafood section. In total 587 fish were caught weighing a collective 438lbs.

The public can now enjoy the weekend’s haul of lionfish at the restaurants listed below where chefs will be creating some new lionfish menu items or the lionfish can be bought fresh at the seafood department at Foster’s Food Fair to be cooked it at home.

The tournament is just one of many initiatives continuing in Cayman to try and control the invasive species. As DoE officials have noted over fishing has worked on many of Cayman’s own native fish. They hope to have the same impact on the Lionfish and prevent its spread by encouraging everyone to catch and eat the fish to halt the negative impact on the local reefs where they are eating smaller fish and competing with other larger fish for food. With no natural predators of their own here in the Atlantic the native of the Pacific Ocean is just one more threat to the diversity of Cayman’s marine environment.

Abacus
Brasserie
Cobalt Coast Resort
Greenhouse Café
Guy Harvey’s Grill
Rum Point Restaurant
Tukka