Florida Officials Declare Open Season on Lionfish

Forget about rabbit season or duck season in South Florida. Down there it's lionfish season.

State wildlife officials want to permanently change rules that will make it easier to catch pterois, more commonly known as lionfish, in Florida waters.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last August approved a temporary rule that waived the recreational fishing license requirement when targeting lionfish with pole spears, handheld nets, Hawaiian slings or other devices specifically designed for catching lionfish, which are a culinary delicacy, but also have poisonous spines.

This temporary rule also removed any bag limits for the exotic fish; recreational anglers previously could not catch more than 100 pounds of lionfish without a commercial license.

The commission discussed keeping the lenient rule change earlier this week and is expected to approve the new measure in June.

According to a report posted at CBSMiami.com, making the rule permanent instead of a waiver, as it is now, would make it easier to harvest the lionfish.

Beautiful as they are to look at, lionfish are causing ecological chaos in the waters off of South Florida because they have no natural predators and are eating ravenous amount of indigenous fish.

Lionfish, which are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans but also live off the southeast United States, Bahamas and the Caribbean, have no natural reef predators and compete for food and habitat against domestic species like grouper and snapper, which they also like to eat.

Lionfish are gluttonous eaters, ingesting just about they can fit in their mouths. But there isn't anything known in the seas that want to eat lionfish. Even sharks are afraid of them.

When properly cleaned, however, lionfish yield a white meat prized by many as a delicacy.

Those planning on taking the state up on its lionfish offer are advised to always wear puncture-resistant gloves as protection from the lionfish's venom-tipped spines, which give the fish its lion-like appearance.

The sting of a lionfish can cause pain, swelling, nausea, headaches and even convulsions. Once the spines are removed, the fish can be safely handled --- and prepared.