Sarasota Derby proves 'Lion' is the fish you can love to hate

SARASOTA -- Everyone strives nowadays to be more loving and tolerant, but everyone can loathe lionfish and still be politically correct.

Lionfish, whose origins are said to be the Indo-Pacific region and the Red Sea, have been found guilty by Gulf of Mexico marine scientists of ravaging reefs and displacing local fish.

Lionfish have venomous spines, huge appetites, rapid rates of reproduction and the lack of a predator other than humans, said Jim Locascio, a Mote Marine Laboratory scientist.

Their capital punishment is to be taken out of the Gulf of Mexico any way possible and, because they are not poisonous for humans to eat and because they have a taste between mahi mahi and grouper, to be consumed with delight by humans in various recipes.

In fact, a crowd of about 75, including divers and their families, volunteers and scientists cheered and clapped when Dr. Michael P. Crosby, president and chief executive of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, announced 456 lionfish were harvested by eight dive teams during the three-day Second Annual Sarasota Lionfish Derby, which ended Sunday.

The derby, which Crosby said will return next year and get even bigger, was hosted by Mote Marine Laboratory in collaboration with ZooKeeper and Reef Environmental Education Foundation, also known as REEF. ZooKeeper is the device nearly 100 percent of the divers use to spear and retrieve lionfish from the deep. It was designed and manufactured by Allie ElHage.

Some of the 456 fish speared were fileted and served after

the Derby as Lionfish Ceviche. The recipe calls for diced lionfish filet to be placed in lime juice for about 20 minutes so the acid "cooks" it. The white, flakey fish is then added to diced onion, tomatoes, red and green peppers, hot pepper, scotch bonnet, cilantro and salt. The mixture was put in tiny cups and eaten with dip chips.

"Delicious," said Miranda Carroll of Odessa, a member of REEF.

Even the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Sunday gave harvesting lionfish its total blessing.

"FWC has really gotten involved with these derbies in the past year or so and we look forward to being more involved in the coming years," Meaghan Faletti, Lionfish Outreach Coordinator for FWC, told the enthusiastic crowd.

The top prize for most lionfish caught went to the Webe Dreamin'/Jim's Dive Shop team out of St. Petersburg, which hauled in 152 lionfish.

The prize for largest lionfish speared also went to Webe Dreamin with a 41.8 centimeter lionfish, which translates to about 18 inches long.

All the divers are colorful characters, but none more so than Michael Deremer of Webe Dreamin.

"In the old days, before we started harvesting them, lionfish would just sit there loud and proud in deep water like, 'Hey, here I am,'" Deremer said. "You could just swim right up spear them and they wouldn't move. But now, as they've seen their buddies disappear many they are thinking, 'Been there, done that," and they hide under rock shelves when they see a diver. So, we have to look for the ones who haven't seen their buddies harvested. Those will still let you come right up to them."

Lionfish are such good eating that they fetch about $4 a pound wholesale, Deremer said.

"So, if you shoot a 2-pounder, that's eight dollars," Deremer said. "Many people think, 'Hey, I can get rich doing this.' But you are diving in deep water so you are paying a lot for your tanks and paying for your boat motor fuel. And the fish are getting harder to get. So, it's become like a job. But I will say they are quite good to eat."

Bob Richardson, a member of Deremer's dive team, got a spine in his thumb during the derby, while trying to get a lionfish into its containment device.

"At first it felt like a pinprick," Richardson said. "Then, for the next two hours, it felt like someone hitting my thumb with a hammer."

Chefs still have to be wary of spines during preparation of the fish.

Besides Deremer and Richardson, Webe Dreamin also consisted of Kristie Gilford.

Since lionfish start reproducing at 1 year old and reproduce all during the year, catching little lionfish is important too, Crosby said.

"It's important we get and every one of these fish," Crosby said, handing out a prize for smallest lionfish to a team that caught one measuring 12 centimeters, about 5 inches.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sarasota Derby proves 'Lion' is the fish you can love to hate ."