If you’re a Lionfish and you frequent the area around John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida, you may want to make yourself scarce this coming September 10.
That’s because the Reef Environmental Education Foundation is sponsoring a derby that day, offering more than US$3,500/3,138 Euros in prize money to teams of up to four divers for catching Lionfish either by net or spear.
The derby will take place Sept. 10 from sunrise to 5 p.m., and first-, second- and third-place prizes will be awarded, as well as awards for the largest and smallest Lionfish caught. Competitors can participate via scuba, snorkeling or freediving.
There will also be filleting demonstrations and free Lionfish tasting, with a raffle and awards ceremony planned for 6 p.m.
It’ll cost US$120/108 Euros to register your team, and each team will get a pair of puncture-resistant gloves. You’ll be required to attend a meeting the night before the derby on lionfish ecology, safe handling, collecting tools and techniques.
For more info, check out the reef.org website.
