{"id":5538,"date":"2015-12-15T21:36:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T02:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=5538"},"modified":"2024-09-20T10:56:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T14:56:35","slug":"local-catch-trapping-and-tasting-an-invader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/local-catch-trapping-and-tasting-an-invader\/","title":{"rendered":"LOCAL CATCH: Trapping and Tasting an Invader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Faced with a lionfish invasion, some researchers, divers and restaurant owners from Carteret County decided to fight \u2014 and bite \u2014 back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were trying to make lemonades from lemons,\u201d says Janelle Fleming, a member of the Eastern Carolina Artificial Reef Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fleming, who also is an oceanographer with Seahorse Coastal Consulting, received a minigrant from North Carolina Sea Grant to test an idea of how to catch the fish. The team included members from Bistro-By-The-Sea, Discovery Diving, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Seahorse Consulting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They collaborated on a pilot study to test traps to capture lionfish and conduct a consumer taste testing for the fish. The traps were designed to maximize capture of the invasive species, not of other marine animals in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project was successful because of the participation among private industry, academia and NOAA,\u201d notes John Fear<\/a>, Sea Grant deputy director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team attracted and caught lionfish using Maine lobster traps and crab pot Christmas trees. The latter was a novel idea from James Morris, a NOAA biologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lobster
The research team saw this project as an opportunity to unite several local industries, including dive shops, commercial fishermen, restaurants and crab pot Christmas tree makers. Photo by Janelle Fleming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s ever done anything like this, so you\u2019ve got to go with what people think might happen,\u201d Fleming recalls with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the second part of this project, the team conducted a lionfish tasting to determine if there could be a demand for this invasive species among consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Coyne, executive chef of Bistro-By-The-Sea, prepared a two-course lionfish meal \u2014 a slider appetizer and baked entr\u00e9e. He used recipes typically crafted for mild-flavored, white fish, such as triggerfish or grouper. See the recipes on page 36.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-three participants were recruited to evaluate Coyne\u2019s lionfish features. They had been involved in a similar series of sturgeon tastings in 2013, also funded by Sea Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results were promising. Tasters rated the appetizer as \u201cvery good\u201d for flavor, texture, aroma and appearance. They called the entr\u00e9e \u201cexcellent.\u201d Several praised the mild flavor of the meat and its flaky, firm texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this pilot test behind them, Fleming has ideas to use another kind of lobster cage, as well as traps shaped like reef balls, a structure that seems to attract lionfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underlying the team\u2019s efforts to develop a commercial lionfish industry is a desire to help their neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know that this has significant potential,\u201d Fleming notes, predicting that these methods might catch sufficient lionfish to meet the demands of the restaurant industry in Carteret County, Raleigh and Charlotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that would be a good thing for the community around here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LIONFISH RECIPES<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lionfish Slider<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"lionfish
Tim Coyne, executive chef of Bistro-By-The-Sea, tested lionfish recipes, including this slider appetizer. Photo by Vanda Lewis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n