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On the Menu: Lionfish

By Brooke Morton | Published On November 16, 2014
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On the Menu: Lionfish

When screenwriter and producer Jim Hart of Hook fame learned of the lionfish devastation in the Caribbean and Atlantic, he pictured his next movie villain — one the size of a Volkswagen, capable of devouring humans. Only the script never sold. Nobody in Hollywood had heard of a lionfish.

And so Hart found his next off-screen project. In November 2012, together with friend Stacy Frank, he founded Lionfish University, a nonprofit dedicated to the dissemination of information about the nonendemic nuisance. They wanted to share how to safely cull the predator, why culling works, how to clean the fish, and how to cook it. They hoped for an active online dialogue that included everyone, not just scientists or divers.

Its latest initiative is an ad campaign encouraging restaurants to place lionfish on the menu in lieu of grouper, snapper and
other reef fish. It will run
in magazines, and in the e-newsletters of participating dive centers and clubs, including Oceanblue Divers in Norwalk, Connecticut, Eco Dive Center in Los Angeles, and Denver Divers.

Free presentations for dive centers looking to educate their areas are also available. To learn more, visit the group on Facebook.