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#397836 01/20/11 08:07 AM
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What a great evening it was at Wahoo's last night with over 600 Lionfish caught! See photos and write up here:

www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=157772727607865


Mathieu's Delicatessen

Gunter the original & best.... baker, chef: breads, breakfast, lunch, FOOD!
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Congrats to all involved. Very nice write-up, thanks.

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[Linked Image]

After the first confirmed sighting of a lionfish in Belize in December 2008, ECOMAR began working with the Belize Fisheries Department to raise awareness on the problems that are anticipated as a result of the increasing number of lionfish in the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve Ecosystem.

The Belize Lionfish Project came about, where fishermen, tour guides and the public were being taught about the invasive and venomous creature. Monthly lionfish tournaments and workshops have been held as well.

On Tuesday, January 18, ECOMAR, in collaboration with the Belize Fisheries Department with the support from COMPACT (Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation Program) and other partners, held a Lionfish Outreach Training workshop with the objective to raise awareness on the impacts of the invasive lionfish population on our precious Barrier Reef. The workshop was held at the San Pedro Lions Den where they also discussed rules and regulations for the 1st ever San Pedro Lionfish Tournament.

As part of joining in the fight in managing the invasive lionfish, a first ever lionfish tournament took place on Wednesday, January 19. Fishermen, tour guides, divers and the public were invited to participate in the tournament. All the activity and weighing station was centered at the beachfront at Wahoo's Lounge at the Spindrift Hotel.

Official weighing commenced at 3:00 p.m. and ended at 5:00 p.m. as the fishermen/divers brought in their catch. The fish were counted, measured and fishing devices such as spears and fishnets were checked for approval. After the counting, demonstrations were held on how to properly handle, clean, fillet and ready the lionfish for cooking.

Tourist and locals gathered to watch the spectacle as teams arrived with coolers or buckets filled with lionfish of all sizes. There was much excitement as teams rushed in to make it to the weighing table just in the nick of time before the weighing station was closed.

Free samples of grilled and barbeque lionfish were freshly prepared for everyone to taste. The Wahoo's Lounge even created a special drink called "The Lionfish Eradicator" which was a mango daiquiri spiced up with coconut cream, grenadine and chocolate syrup. Caliente's bartender, Enrique Luna, also prepared a one-of-a-kind lionfish drink with ingredients including Bailey's and lime and a secret ingredient which we cannot name.

There were three prize categories with first and second placements for each. The following are the results:

Most Lionfish:
1st Place - Ramon's Village - 165 lionfish
2nd Place - Amigo's Del Mar - 137 lionfish

Largest Lionfish:
1st Place - Island Divers - 38cm
2nd Place - Amigo's del Mar and Ramon's Village - 35cm

Smallest Lionfish:
1st Place - Keon, Shamir & Juni - 5.2 cm
2nd Place - Martin John Leslie - 5.6 cm

The first ever Lionfish Tournament was a great success and very well received by locals and tourists. It's a great way to control the population of the invasive lionfish, while promoting tourism at the same time. Did we mention that the Lionfish taste great! Yup its awesome, and its flesh is not poisonous. Watch video to learn more on how to handle and clean the fish. Thumbs up to the organizers; hopefully there are more tournaments to come.

Click here for the rest of the story and more pictures

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Hundreds of Lionfish caught in first ever Tournament

On Wednesday January 19th, the first ever Lionfish Tournament was hosted by the Wahoo Lounge. All day, eager fishermen and fisherwomen hit the waters to try and land the most Lionfish, the largest and even the smallest. With prizes like snorkel equipment, restaurant dinners, bar tabs and more, everyone was in the mood to catch some Lionfish! Those who attended the tournament go to sample some tasty dishes and learn how to prepare the lionfish.



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Yeah! It was so much fun. Thank you all for the excellent turn out and for helping to support this cause.


Noele McLain
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The Lionfish Tournament looks like a tremendous success...I really never knew there were that many already..And I didn't know they were tasty, but apparently so. Wahoo's pics and videos were great!

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From A Fish Of Prey, To A Fish Preyed Upon

In February of 2009, we started reporting on the ominous arrival of the Lionfish into Belize's waters. Ominous because the Lionfish has no natural predators in these waters and marine biologists warned that it will decimate fish stocks by eating all the juvenile fish.

By March, 2009, the fisheries department had put a bounty on the Lionfish - offering a reward of $50 for anyone who finds one. By August that had to be discontinued, the game was up, the Lionfish had won and it was accepted that, despite best efforts, it had penetrated all of Belize's territorial waters.

But for the folks in San Pedro that was no reason to hang their heads. In a perfect example of being served a sack of nothing but limes and choosing to make lime juice rather than curse bitter fate, a group named Ecomar had the first ever lionfish tournament last week.

According to the Ambergris Today newsletter, the tournament took place on Wednesday, January 19, In San Pedro town where hundreds of lionfish were caught - and not only caught, but filleted and cooked! The first place prize was given to the crew from Ramon's Village which caught 165 of the venomous fish and second place went to Amigo's Del Mar which caught 137. Island divers snagged the largest lionfish at 38 centimeters - which is over a foot.

And after that, it was unto the cutting table where the venom producing glands were removed and the Lionfish was prepped for serving. You can find a link to see how they prepared it at 7newsbelize.com..

http://www.ambergristoday.com/content/stories/2011/january/20/lionfish-hundreds-1st-ever-tournament


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http://www.torontosun.com/news/weird/2011/01/25/17032061.html

I wrote the restaurant an email, suggesting that they made lemon-aid from their lemons, and put Lionfish tacos on their menu. They'll probably write me off as some kind of a nut (imagine that), but hey, who knows . . . maybe a market for the lionfish could grow and that should do nothing but be helpful.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

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OK, nevermind, I "tried" to email the restaurant and it got bounced back to me. Given a bit more time, I think commenting and sending links, on a bunch of the blogs that have addressed the "lion meat" issue for the Tucson eatery, might be more helpful.


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

Joined: Oct 2009
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Looks like it was a lot of fun for a great cause! We wrote up a small description of the tournament in our Unusual Stuff article to spread the word. Come check it out, would love to hear feedback.

http://www.paradisehunter.com/CountryInformation/Belize/Things-To-See-&-Do/Unusual-Stuff

Cheers!

Scott


If you'd like more info, check out our Belize articles at http://www.paradisehunter.com

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