Cyprus fishermen flip venomous lionfish into tavern delicacy | EUROtoday

Photis Gaitanos’ tough fingers adroitly untangle the venomous spikes of a lionfish from a internet, throwing the exotic-looking creature into an ice-filled rubber bin together with different fish from the day’s catch.

Unlike a number of years in the past when he would have principally caught native staples as sea bream, pink mullet or bass, the veteran fisherman now hunts for the invasive species that made its means from the Red Sea to the warming waters of the Mediterranean.

Lionfish, with their pink and orange-hued stripes and antennae-like barbs that menacingly keep off enemies, threaten to decimate indigenous fish shares, wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of the roughly 150 skilled fishermen in Cyprus.

The prickly fish has even made its means as far north because the Ionian Sea, the place Italian authorities have requested the general public to {photograph} and report sightings.

The East Mediterranean has additionally seen one other invasive Red Sea fish within the final decade: the silver-cheeked toadfish. Known as an consuming machine whose highly effective jaws reduce via fishing nets, decimating fishermen’s catch, it has no pure predators off Cyprus, permitting its inhabitants to blow up.

That toadfish additionally produces a deadly toxin, making it inedible.

Warmer waters are the offender

Mr Gaitanos has fished for years in an space a number of kilometres off the coastal city of Larnaca, as soon as well-known for its fishing bounty. Now, he says, it’s been greater than two years since he’s caught a pink mullet, a client favourite.

“I have been practicing this profession for 40 years. Our income, especially since these two foreign species appeared, has become worse every year. It is now a major problem (affecting) the future of fishing,” he said. “How can it be dealt with?”

Europe’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean says with the ocean warming some 20 per cent sooner than the worldwide common, the presence of invasive species “is progressively increasing in the western basin”.

Models present that hotter seas on account of local weather change may see lionfish swarm all the Mediterranean by the century’s finish. Warmer waters and an expanded Suez Canal “have opened the floodgates” to Indo-Pacific species basically, in keeping with Cyprus’ Fisheries Department.

The European Union’s Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis, a Cypriot himself, stated that extra frequent and intense excessive climate, usually linked to local weather change, may make the Mediterranean extra hospitable to invasive species.

And that’s taking a heavy toll on Europe’s fishing trade as fishermen’s catches diminish whereas their prices shoot up on account of repairs to fishing gear broken by the highly effective intruders.

“The native marine biodiversity of a specific region, as in the case of Cyprus, faces heightened competition and pressure, with implications for local ecosystems and industries dependent on them,” stated Mr Kadis.

A cry for assist

Mr Gaitanos, who inherited his father’s boat in 1986, is just not certain the fishermen’s grievances are being dealt with in a means that may stave off the occupation’s decline.

“We want to show the European Union that there’s a big problem with the quantity of the catch as well as the kind of fish caught, affected by the arrival of these invasive species and by climate change,” he said.

Some EU-funded compensation programs have been enacted to help fishermen. The latest, enforced in 2024, pays fishermen about €4.73 (£4.13) per kilogram to catch toadfish to control their number. The toadfish are then sent to incinerators.

Another project, RELIONMED, which began in 2017, recruits some 100 scuba divers to cull lionfish around wrecks, reefs and marine protected areas. The Cyprus Fisheries Department says surveys show that frequent culls could buy time for native species to recover, but it’s not a permanent fix.

Eating the problem

What local fishermen are hoping will catch on with the fish-loving public is a new campaign to serve lionfish as a delicacy after its poisonous spines are carefully removed.

Mr Kadis said a social media campaign that began in 2021, #TasteTheOcean, had top European chefs and influencers plugging invasive species as a tasty alternative to the more commonly consumed fish. Renowned Cypriot chef Stavris Georgiou worked up a lionfish recipe of his own.

For most Cypriots, local taverns with their rich meze menus that feature numerous plates different fish is the way to go. Although eating lionfish has been slow to catch on, many tavernas and fish restaurants have started to introduce it as part of their menu.

The bonus is that lionfish is now priced competitively compared to more popular fish like sea bass. At the Larnaca harbor fish market, lionfish cost less than half as much as more popular fish like sea bass.

“By incorporating invasive species such as lionfish into our diet, we can turn this challenge into an opportunity for the fisheries sector and at the same time help limit the environmental threat caused by these species,” Mr Kadis stated.

Stephanos Mentonis, who runs a preferred fish tavern in Larnaca, has included lionfish on his meze menu as a solution to introduce the fish to a wider variety of patrons.

Mr Mentonis, 54, says most of his prospects aren’t acquainted with lionfish. But its meat is fluffy and tender, and he says it could maintain up in opposition to perennial tavern favorites like sea bream.

“When they fight it, it’s not any much less tasty than another fish,” he stated.