They have arrived!!! It was inevitable, we knew this day was looming. Their shadows have stalked and toyed with us for too long, the countdown has ended.
Black Rock Greece has finally been introduced to the invasive species, the Lionfish!
Here is a photo of the first culprit, courtesy of our buddy Paul Prater.
I know what you’re thinking, “isn’t it pretty and cute” – “how can that be a menace?”….
This is how;
A full-scale invasion of marauding lionfish has taken over the waters of the eastern Mediterranean during the past five years, the floodgates have been opened to these Indo-Pacific species due to the enlargement of the Suez Canal and warmer waters. The lionfish have few natural enemies outside of their native regions, and breed at an astonishing rate of up to 30,000 eggs every four days! They are quickly becoming a plague threatening the coral reefs and eco systems they invade.
Lionfish eat juvenile reef fish, and it does not stop when it is full. The Lionfish can eat up to 6% of its body weight, and their stomachs can expand over 30 times! When you take out all the reef fish from a healthy reef, whether it is because of the Lionfish or overfishing the reef will die. When the reef dies, other fish will migrate, and local communities will lose an important food and income source.
The solution?
The hunter to become the hunted. Yes, you are encouraged to kill, exterminate, obliterate. Dangerous words to mutter in this woke world nowadays but don’t recoil in disgust or go to cancel us, you are saving the planet! Lionfish need to disappear from their non-native waters.
But no need to let your kill go to waste, Lionfish can be prepared in many different ways! On the grill, fried … whichever way you want. As long as you remove the spine which contains the venom (take care and wear gloves), you can serve it like a normal fish and it’s actually quite delicious. Not only does eating Lionfish reduce these pesky fish from our Aegean waters, but it also offers a sustainable fishing alternative.
So next time you’re on a dive and you see Hayden wrestling with a scaled fin fiend, do a favour and pass him the ketchup will you?
