Groupers are beginning to see lionfish as food

Even when it's in a diver's bag.

LINK (via: GRINDTV)

The Worst Marine Invasion Ever

Scary stuff.

The lionfish invasion has arrived in full force off the coast of North Carolina and they're eating so many native species they're becoming obese.

LINK (via: Slate)

Sharks Taught to Hunt Alien Lionfish

                                    You sure I can eat this thing?

"At the beginning, the divers just killed lionfish and fed sharks with them to get the sharks to develop a taste," said photographer Antonio Busiello, who observed the process in action.

"In the second step, to have the sharks develop an interest in hunting them, divers started to leave wounded lionfish so that the sharks could taste them. After a while, [the sharks] did start to hunt them and go after them."

LINK (Via: National Geographic)

If you can't beat em, eat em

Although it is unlikely that lionfish will ever be eradicated from their invaded range, it is very possible that local populations can be controlled and their impacts minimized simply by adding it to the menu.

LINK (Via:Amazon)

If you can't beat em.....eat em!

The Bahamas Department of Marine Resources encourages the use of the invasive lionfish as a food item. Though venomous, the toxins are contained solely within the fish's spines. Once these are removed, the flesh is quite safe to eat.