Lionfish and Ciguatera? So Much for Dinner

by David Conway • July 5, 2012 • 8 comments

This fish, a lionfish, just keeps getting to be more and more of a pain.

It’s been a lot of fun to go out and shoot lionfish and eat them and tell ourselves we’re doing something good to keep back the invasion of the reef dwelling alien fish. But now people have to come and tell us–for our own good–that eating lionfish might be unhealthy! Very unhealthy. Ciguatera is a nasty disorder that you definitely do not want to get, and though I haven’t heard of any cases of ciguatera from people who’ve eaten lionfish, I have heard of cases from people who’ve eaten grouper taken from Florida reefs.

The University of Florida/IFAS St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension has received an update from Florida Sea Grant that shows that lionfish harvested in Florida’s waterways might contain toxins which cause ciguatera.The Sea Grant statement to Extension Agents says:

…the finding of the FDA is that ‘of 194 fish tested, 42 percent showed detectable levels of ciguatoxin and 26 percent were above the FDA’s illness threshold of 0.1 parts per billion.’

Despite the fact that NOAA has an ongoing program to teach people how to catch and cook lionfish, given this new information, under no circumstances should any person affiliated with Florida Sea Grant advocate consuming these fish, regardless of the location from which they are taken.

If someone tells you it is OK to eat lionfish, tell them that the latest FDA science indicates that there is a significant risk, and it is recommended that they DO NOT eat them.

If you know of anyone who has contracted ciguatera from eating lionfish shot in Florida waters, please drop me a line :
davidc@floridasportsman.com

In test
  • d.b.

    Weren't the fish that were tested found caught in the Virgin Islands, not Florida? And aren't the results a little skewed?

    Any high end predator fish from a location that has ciguatera is likely to test positive for ciguatera , not just lionfish.

    These results are not being reported fully. http://keysnews.com/node/40782

  • Karl Havens

    The news release from UF incorrectly stated that there is ciguitera in lionfish from Florida waters. The fact is that the lionfish sampled to date were caught in the Virgin Islands. Sampling still is ongoing by NOAA in waters around Florida and other US coastal regions. Florida Sea Grant simply is going to be conservative about not recommending that people eat lionfish until such time that we have hard data to guide us otherwise.

    • D.D.

      I don't think any one is going to stop eating grouper because there were a couple of cases of ciguatera. The fact is that there is a relative risk to eating anything, salmonella in fruit and vegetables, brucellosis in swine, and e.coli with beef.

      If you eat fish responsibly and pay attention to quantity with pregnant women and children then I doubt there is any significant health hazard.

  • yeah right

    Shoot them anyway. Lionfish hate freedom. do it for 'murrika!

  • Chris Muthig

    Ciguatera is a warmer water issue, (although cooler water doesn't guarantee safety.) I.E., if you catch them in Boynton Beach, it's less of a risk than catching them in the Keys. As I understand it, it's also a cumulative issue, meaning the larger the fish, the higher risk. I'm listening to these reports, waiting for a good bit of study from our own waters. I'll let you know if I get it!

  • jbermuda

    The idea that Lionfish are the only fish that have ciguitera and not other fish is nuts. Lionfish are no more seceptible to contracting it than groupers or snappers and other predatory fish. The FDA retracted the statements made by an over zealous reporter trying to make news. The fact is that the fish that were tested were taken diliberately from a place known to have the toxin so the story is bunk. If you really look at this issue, the higher up the food chain a fish is the better chance they could get the noxin in their system, but only if the toxin is in high concentrations in the area where they feed. We have had our lionfish tested for the presence of ciguitera and the lionfish were clean.

  • d.b.

    A followup – I exchanged emails with the professor that released the "news bulletin" and he stated that there has never been a recorded case of ciguatera due to lionfish EVER in Florida.

    Read his responses here: http://floridahillbilly.com/lionfish-and-ciguater…

  • http://www.facebook.com/ashevillecontra M-j Taylor

    This feels like irresponsible reporting to me – as another reply mentions the fish tested were not from the Florida Keys. I'm not saying the thread of cigueratoa doesn't exist – it does in most reef fish in the Keys that are of a certain size – the warning goes: "longer than your (fore)arm, causes harm.