The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) are assuring divers and diners that locally caught lionfish are safe to eat, despite recent reports of the toxin that causes ciguatera found in lionfish caught off the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.
Reports of ciguatoxin off St. Maarten have made international headlines in recent weeks, and raised concerns about consumption of the fish. The concerns have surfaced after an aggressive yearlong campaign by REEF and the sanctuary urging people to catch and eat lionfish, as their numbers have exploded in the Keys.
Lionfish, a non-native species commonly found in Indo-Pacific waters, has few predators in the Caribbean and is disrupting the marine ecosystem.
Like organizations throughout the Caribbean, the two local agencies have extolled lionfish as a delicacy. There is no closed season or size and bag limit on spiny invader.
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