A Lionfish Feast

After finishing our schoolwork this morning, we moved 3 miles to anchor near Little Bay, around the corner from Black Point. The initial attraction of this anchorage was the 'castle' which is indicated on our charts. We had been told not to expect too much. In fact the castle is nothing more than a house with turrets, on the site of a planned resort and marina for which construction was halted in 2006. The bigger attraction here was the beach, which we had all to ourselves.
While the girls lazed in the sun, Greg headed off to do some spearfishing. He met with great success, returning with 8 lionfish. He has been on a mission here to reduce their population on the reefs of the Bahamas, spearing all he can. Ecologically, this is encouraged. You see, the lionfish are an invasive species here, first seen in the wild in 2000. They are native to the Indo-Pacific region and one story goes that 6 were released into the wild when a large tank broke in a Florida aquarium during Hurricane Andrew. They have no natural enemies here, and their population has exploded as they gobble up the juvenile reef fish. An article we read at Compass Cay said that they can consume about 75% of the small fish on a reef in just 5 weeks! The same article mentioned that in their native environment, their population remains under control because of several parasites. It is not known what further reaching effects introducing these parasites to the Bahamas would bring, so at this point, the Bahamas National Trust are strongly encouraging locals and visitors to net or spear any they cross paths with. They are slow moving fish, and not difficult to catch. The tricky part is keeping away from their venomous spines. Once speared, careful handling and cleaning while wearing heavy gloves keeps you safe from their poison.
Once we returned to the boat, it took Greg about 30 minutes to clean the fish. They are small and don't result in a large amount of meat, but they are tasty and we thoroughly enjoyed them.
Tomorrow we will return to Black Point so Greg can teach again in the afternoon.
More details on his experiences at the school following his lesson tomorrow ....