A few questions concerning LIon Fish.
1.) What happens to the spines if you cut them off in the water? Is there any danger that they wash up on shore for someone to step on?
2.) If the whole fish is left in the water? Is that a problem??
3.) Does anyone know for sure if the limit in Greece has been lifted??
4.) I'm looking for organized hunts in late May and early June in Greece. My family is a bit worried about my hunting lion fish alone from shore.
Hopefully this forum is not dead.
I saw my first lion fish swimming off of Monemvasia in September of 2023.
Beautiful, but just wrong!
I will look to start an exchange with some taverna's that already serve fish, but if a gyro spot has a deep fryer a Greek version of a Fish Taco or Psari Gyros sounds like a winner!! Given all other fish in Greece seem to be so expensive, lion fish could be a great source of protein. (Sad bonus for losing all the other sea life)
70 Euros per kilo ?? They will have a hard time man
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A few questions concerning LIon Fish.
1.) What happens to the spines if you cut them off in the water? Is there any danger that they wash up on shore for someone to step on?
They sink. So as long as you don't leave them right at the start of the beach, there shouldn't be a danger to humans. The venom is produced in glands between the skin that covers the spine, and the spine itself. Over time it will wash away when the fish is dead; no idea how long this will take. Just know that a spine cut from the fish will stillhave venom for 'some time', so don't leave them where people or animals like cats and dogs can get to them. If you cut them right after catching the fish, it'll be most probably over deeper water, rocks and boulders, so over there you shouldn't have to worry about it.
2.) If the whole fish is left in the water? Is that a problem??
I don't know what you mean. Like, not catching them? They will continue to breed and spread, consuming all the juvenile fish of other species as they go. When other species aren't available anymore they will provably prey on their own young until they too aren't available anymore, after which we will be left with shores hosting nothing but sea urchins. The other scenario would be, and this has been reported in their native areas, but now also in the US and last year also in Greece, that other species, mainly the Grouper (rofos) will start to recognize the lionfish as a possible prey. This alone should be a reason for a total ban on the hunting of groupers, like they have in France.
Or you mean when you kill the fish, and leave it? It will get eaten by the scavengers of the sea. Certain fish will prey on it, and should it sink to the bottom, then so will octopus, crab and fireworms.
3.) Does anyone know for sure if the limit in Greece has been lifted??
It was reported on a Greek fishing magazine/website, iirc something along the lines of 'boatandfishinggreece.com'. The article.kver there had links to the government website's article. Google will help you find it. Note that the limit is only lifted for the [problematic] invasive species or lionfish, lagocephalus (toxic, don't consume!), iirc germanos, and a few others
4.) I'm looking for organized hunts in late May and early June in Greece. My family is a bit worried about my hunting lion fish alone from shore.
Late May isn't possible. May is the month with a yearly total ban on spearfishing across all of Greece. The lionfish is *not* exempt from this. As for going alone: you shouldn't. Not if you love your life. Diving is a dangerous activity and any misyake has the potential to be fatal. Add to that the handling of wild animals whos stung is of such magnitude that it makes an adult man cry like a baby and you have a recipe for disaster. Also, use the right tools, so *no* normal speargun, but a spear with a trident, preferably a pole spear, and a pair of strong scissors, preferably EMT trauma shears, as those have a serrated edge that grips the spines.
Dimos, from the youtube channel spearfishing.life might be able to give more up to date information. He is a core figure in the fight against the lionfish and has hosted community lionfish hunts on multiple occasions.
>Deeper nets and killing devices are needed, but, it's a lost cause right??
Eventually nature will find a new balance. We might lose a few species, but that's how life works. The reason this issue is so bad is because *we* caused it, so it's morally wrong to just shrug the shoulders and move on. We have to try the hardest to fix what we break, and to learn from it for the next time. Nets don't catch them btw. There is someone on the internet who made a lionfish hunting robot through.
