- This is me holding,
- [Cameraman] Hold it, hold it.
fileting
and eating
a scary, venomous fish.
- The venom is inside those needles.
- And this is not me hunting it.
Hi I'm Yara and I'm in Florida
to learn about the lionfish.
A terrifyingly, beautiful creature
that's actually destroying coral reefs
in the Western Atlantic.
It's what's known as an invasive species,
meaning it's an invader that's not native to these waters
and it's basically eating everything that moves.
Including tons of helpful little fish
that keep the coral reefs healthy.
Oh my god!
And because the lionfish doesn't have any
natural predators around here,
it's population has exploded over the past few decades.
But conservationists have come up
with a unique campaign to fight back,
encouraging people to eat it.
- It's very tasty table fare.
- [Yara] Today there are lionfish festivals,
lionfish cookbooks, lionfish hunting derbies,
celebrity chef appearances, supermarket partnerships
and even battle slogans.
By hunting and eating lionfish so the argument goes,
you are helping save the coral reef.
But how did this invader get here?
How do you cook and eat a venomous fish?
And can you really eat them to beat them?
To find out, we decided to go hunting for lionfish.
Boom!
So we are on our way, the lighting here is better.
We are on our way to Islamorada also known as Islamorada.
Also known as an island from "Jurassic Park".
(Screaming)
- That was a joke for you.
- To go out spearfishing for lionfish.
(Sneezes)
We are almost there.
We're here in Islamorada, trying to find our hotel.
This feels like Jurassic Park.
When the rain starts coming down,
the T-Rex is unleashed into the wild.
Over breakfast, I envisioned the glorious day ahead.
It's a sail and then this is the water.
Those are my legs, they're long like mermaid legs.
Mermaids don't have legs.
This is me heroically spearfishing a lionfish.
And here's the sun, it's blue.
- [Tabish] You literally had yellow.
- Okay so I obviously had no concept of spearfishing,
but that's okay.
We met up with two people that do.
Hey guys. - Hey Yara.
- That's Eric and that's Jack.
Wave for like five seconds.
Eric's been hunting lionfish for over a decade.
So he and Jack were going to take us along on their charter,
to show us how it's done.
I am now boarding the charter.
(dramatic violin music)
Oh God that's probably not a good, there we go.
So where we heading now?
- We are heading out to one of my extra,
special secret spots.
- We struck something with the anchor.
Have they legalized the hunting of this fish?
- Yes, every single other fish that is legal to fish,
there's regulations.
Lionfish is open all the time, no regulations, go get 'em.
- And they're doing that essentially to
- Control the populations. There's not much else we can do.
You can't catch 'em hook and line because they don't bite.
You have to go down there and spear them.
They like to be on structure and they don't move.
- They cling to things.
- They cling to things
and then they'll eat everything there.
- But how exactly are these fish such efficient killers?
Let me explain or better yet,
let's have the "Planet Earth" guy explain.
- [Narrator] In the coral reefs
off the Florida coast,
there is a thriving ecosystem of fish, big and small.
But there is one creature that does not belong,
the lionfish.
It's hypnotizing spines are full of venom
but that's not what it uses to hunt it's lunch.
Instead, the lionfish slowly stalks it's prey,
then without a moment to spare it strikes.
The lionfish will eat anything
it can stretch its mouth around,
including other lionfish if it comes to that.
Its stomach can fit more than thirty time
(Sneezing)
- Okay I'll stop, I'll stop.
Lionfish are actually native to the Indo-Pacific
where natural predators help keep
their populations in check.
But as for how they got here, it's hard to know for sure.
The leading theory is that some aquarium owners
dump these exotic pets into the ocean.
Another story says a giant hotel accidentally
emptied it's aquarium into the sea.
Whatever it may have been,
lionfish were first spotted off the Atlantic coast
back in the mid 1980s.
It wasn't a big deal initially,
but because they have no natural predators here
their population multiplied rapidly
and soon they were being spotted all over the place.
I mean female lionfish can release
more than 2 million eggs per year.
Now not all non-native species obliterate ecosystems.
But the lionfish does,
which is why scientists call it invasive.
It systematically wipes out local prey and predators.
And it's reduced some native fish populations
by as much as 80% and some of these fish
are crucial to the health of the coral reef.
Like the ones that eat excess algae,
allowing enough sunlight and oxygen to reach the corals.
Coral reefs are vital on so many levels.
They host the highest density of species
of any underwater ecosystem.
And they even help protect us humans from floods
and storm surges.
So if they shrink or disappear,
environmental disasters could get much worse.
All that destruction because of this colorful, spiky fish.
So we're back on the boat and ready to hunt lionfish.
Eric, I have a question for you.
- Yes sir.
- [Yara] What is this device you have in your hand?
- This is our high-tech lionfish slayer
and all it is a three-barbed pole spear.
Put it in the crook of your hand like this,
you reach down, pop.
- [Yara] Dang wait
can you do that again? - Yeah
- You push a button, and you do that? - No.
You just reach down, grab it, go up to the lionfish
and let it go.
- So I don't have a scuba license, which is okay
but that means I can't go spearfishing with them.
But what I can do is snorkel.
Hold on I'm just gonna go a little slowly.
- [Tabish] It's cold? - It is cold.
This is excellent, I'm so good at this.
Where are these guys?
- [Tabish] Front, that way, that way.
- Oh God okay. Alrighty.
Well this snorkeling gear isn't working the best.
(laughing)
I think I swallowed quite a bit of water.
I'm gonna find them with this GoPro. - [Tabish] Okay.
I cannot see them, but I believe
they may be spearfishing the lionfish.
Turned out, our divers weren't having
very much luck down there.
Rough weather had made for murky waters.
Did you guys find anything?
- We didn't, the visibility is too bad.
- But little did we know, deep below the surface
on his third dive, Eric struck the lionfish jackpot.
- [Yara] And he wasted no time spearing them.
- [Tabish] Wow.
- Yeah buddy, we got a haul here. We got some big ones.
- I'll take this up.
- [Yara] Holy, alright. Holy Mother, okay
- [Eric] Watch your feet, they flop.
- Holy mother okay, the question I have is
how venomous are these things right now?
- Oh they're venomous four days from now.
So we put them out (flopping)
- Jack, you have been stung before.
Where did you get stung?
- In the hand, it's usually always in the hand.
- What happened to your hand?
- It swells up, big enough you can't even make a fist
for a couple days.
- It just is insanely, insanely painful.
They're like hypodermic needles.
When this thing dies, that venom stays in these spines.
- [Yara] Holy crap
Oh my god. It just ate that.
- They've found up to 50 fish like this in one stomach.
- [Yara] Jesus they have a voracious appetite.
- [Jack] Voracious.
- If you're a certified diver and you're coming to the Keys,
this is a fun activity.
We'll go out, we'll spear 'em,
take them to the local restaurant,
they'll prepare it for ya.
And you get to help the reefs out by getting these things
out of there and fill your belly up at the same time.
- So who's winning here, humans or the lionfish?
Well scientists agree that completely eradicating
the lionfish from these waters is impossible at this point.
But studies have shown that hunting
and removing enough of them
can allow native fish populations to bounce back,
at least temporarily.
That's why conservationist have hosted
tons of lionfish hunting derbies.
And led a campaign encouraging people to eat them,
and supermarkets to sell them.
But how does one actually eat a venomous fish?
We headed up the Florida coast to a town called Deland,
to meet with a chef who was going to teach us
how to safely filet and eat a lionfish.
- Hey. - Hey guys! How are you?
- Nice to meet you. I'm Yara. - How's it going? Hari.
- So everything's like super natural.
- [Tabish] The introduction is so natural.
- Yes now it's natural. We didn't have to actually fake ...
- Hari runs an awarding winning restaurant called "Cress".
It's centered on the idea of sustainability
and eating the invasive lionfish
is very much a part of that mission.
- Have you ever eaten lionfish?
- I have never eaten lionfish, it looks uh ...
It doesn't look friendly.
- So the venom for this lionfish lives in these spines.
- Let's de-venomize it.
- So do you want to cut them off, you don't have to.
- No, no you know let's do it big boy style.
First we had to filet this thing.
I am holding venomous spikes in my hand.
- Yeah you are.
- [Yara] Then we pan roasted it.
- A little bit of salt, pepper.
This is the time to put the thyme.
- Yes, I love puns.
- Oh voila - Okay
- Turn it over.
Lemon, dry white wine, butter – And we also have a sauce now.
We serve it with some rice, some vegetables.
- [Yara] Next up some lionfish ceviche.
- Equal part lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice.
The zest.
I'm from India so I'm always sneaking
ginger and garlic into everything.
Shallots, go for it.
Extra virgin olive oil, coconut milk, cilantro.
We're just going to get the fish
and put some fish in there.
Just want to submerge it all the way
so the acid has a chance to do its thing.
And that's ceviche.
- [Yara] Then some lionfish cakes.
- I wanna smoke this whole carcass and pull the meat out.
- Oh we're gonna keep the spikes too?
- Gonna leave everything in there.
Our alley smoker, which you smell a little bit.
- Yeah, it smells like flavor.
- Just try to get the big chunks of meat that you can.
- Oh I wanna make one of those.
- [Hari] Flatten it up a little bit.
- Nice. - Tasty?
- Mmmhmm. It taste very terrestrial, the sturdiness of it.
When you bite into it, there's a little more pushback.
Yeah this is really good.
How is it?
- Wow!
That's really good.
- Does ceviche normally have coconut milk?
- No but Hari's ceviche does.
(laughs)
- The creaminess is being counter balanced by the acid.
We gotta give you some too.
Did it turn out like it normally does?
- Delicious.
You know if you look at something
that's supposedly venomous and you think when you eat it
it's going to be astringent, it's going to be bitter
because maybe I'm eating poison.
But clearly we've left the toxin out
of whatever we're serving - Right, it's just in the
spikes. - It's just in the spikes.
As you can very well see, this is a great,
clean, white flaky fish.
It's got a natural sweetness and I think part of it
comes from the fact that something's gonna taste like
what it eats.
So they eat the young of shellfish,
snapper, grouper, what have you.
So they're eating people food.
- You know, it's interesting.
Humans are likely to blame for the lionfish problem.
Now, it's up to humans to make sure the coral reefs survive.
And human consumption can generate more demand for lionfish,
which means more diving and more hunting.
And maybe in the future there will be more efficient ways
to remove lionfish, like this specialized lionfish trap.
Or this lionfish vacuum.
Or maybe local predators will learn how to eat them.
- Life
finds a way.
- [Yara] For now, if you want to help the coral reef
and you eat meat try some lionfish civiche.
You won't regret it.
Hey guys, thanks for making it this far.
Okay, two things.
One, yes I say holy mother a lot.
And two, we actually did eat the lionfish cake,
we just didn't film it.
They were amazing. Anyway if you want more videos like this,
make sure to subscribe. Press that subscribe button.
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