hey guys/gals,
I am hosting a dinner in March and am looking to serve Lionfish. I know Grpr doesnt open back up until May but if anyone is going out bottom fishing and catching Lionfish… I will Buy all you have… I am looking to feed 70 people… Hope you guys can rally and help me out… I have been in touch with a local diver and a guy in M Beach and just am throwing it out here for anyone else who is off-shore and catching these bastards and wanna make some money… Thanxs guys
There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. ~Steven Wright
Chef, do you have a way to freeze them and keep them fresh? That’s a lot of lionfish and weather is your biggest challenge. Thanks for stepping up and putting a market on these though. This is definitely very interesting!
What date? I might be able to provide a few, but they will have holes in them!!! You can have any that I shoot, if I can make it off shore any time soon.
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PS: If a fly lost it’s wings, would it be called a walk?
fishcrazy…yeah I just got off the phone with Victor, he my diver in the above mentioned note(says he going out this weekend hopefully, he says the boat should be ready) – TOO Skeeter and Skinneej I am all about selling Lionfish. We have already sold it a couple of times and did well… Now I am looking to do a dinner around them and I will take all you guys can get me, water temps are warming surface off shore Victor told me just a few mins ago was 62 and I saw inshore temps that high yesterday while out catching a few reds… and as far as having holes in them,Ill take them, long as they arent too banged up… Id prefer no holes but I can work around it if I had to and yeah I know its a **** ton of fish but I have a guy in M beach who taught me how to freeze Lionfish to keep them fresh…I have the room and the money…just need the fish…need them by March 12th…if you want to call me about it and chat(serisously inquires only) my number is 817 2212…but again my dead line is March 12th but you can bring them to me tomorrow if anybody goes out and gets some… Thanxs guys I promise nobody will get stuck with any…I have no limit…I hope you all can help me make this happen, it would be HUGE… My goal is really to turn the locals and tourists alike onto eating Lionfish and this dinner would be a huge factor in that, we ran it on our Restaurant week menu last month and people loved it I mean if you have never had it before they really dont taste bad at all… I kinda like them
There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. ~Steven Wright
I agree - This is playing with fire. The LEO’s will make a few examples – and it will not only be the fish poachers - but the buyers as well. This whole situation is a result of the SAFMC’s miss-management. A strong black market is being established. Every time a fish gets “protected” the price goes up & there are those that see golden opportunities – much like prohibition.
How are you getting around the wholesale license requirements? What about HAACP regs? You are playing with fire.
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
How will he get caught?
Are you going to turn him in?
Its Lionfish.
Not trying to be a smart a$$ here but I don’t think Sells has to turn him in. He posted on the INTERNET. A free for all location to read including those losers wanting to rat you out to the DNR.
BUT as skinnee says there may be no regs on such things. I don’t have a clue.
IF they can be caught legally by us recreational guys what would one be willing to pay for such a delicacy? That may draw more attention to your question. I know where a few are:wink:
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
Slack…Don’t really give a $^&* about lionfish, and all the local divers here could never supply a local wholesaler, they just don’t spear enough. Why on earth would a diver with limited bottom time waste his time on a 2 lb lionfish. It is not a “Win win” as we should be talking about catching Sea Bass and Red Snapper.
Who is going to pay the law suit when someone gets sick from improperly handled fish? 99% of recreational fisherman never bring enough ice. Restaurants are required to buy from licensed wholesalers, so that there is a chain of custody of the product in case of a foodborne illness. If you want to sell lionfish, get your commercial saltwater license, contact a wholesaler, (lowcountry /Crosby), and see if they will buy them. I am pretty sure that they won’t, as you need hundreds of pounds to make a fish economically feasible. A few here and there does nothing for wholesalers or buyers. So enjoy the “fad” of eating lionfish when the divers bag a few. Brian, stick with the regular species, and avoid the trouble with DHEC and DNR.
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Chef,
I go diving here about every other weekend weather permitting and I would be glad to help you out however with the bottom temps in the 50s the lionfish have moved beyond 150’ and out of the reach of most divers for now. They will show up again in the spring but it will be very hard to get enough for a dinner of that size by March. If the dinner was in June then it would be a different story.
And yes, we do have the required permits to sell our catch.
As far as selling an invasive species like Lion fish goes, I do not know if the permits are even required. I will check with my friends at DNR.
14’ Pamlico 140 Angler w/ rudder
Kayak, SCUBA, or both.
I also don’t know how you plan a dinner for that many folks with a main course that you are not certain of acquiring, unless of course, you have a backup plan.
There is absolutely no way I would serve that many strangers with fish supplied by a group of divers not licensed/experienced in the safe handling of it.
to Paul"Sellsfish", since you brought it up I have just emailed DNR and my Sustainable seafood gal over at the aquirium about needing any special commerical lic to sell Lionfish, and as far as it being a"fad", dont think so brother… Ever tried one? they are pretty good… Hell paul wanna make some money I know you gotta a lic wanna go catch me some? And to the question weather the local guys have it no stella only sells oysters now,(since Paul left ) and neither crosbys nor Lowcountry carry the product and I beleive we could really be on to something here soon as the public gets a taste of it. But I do have a guy who is starting a Commercial diving operation for strickly Lionfish killing and I have already told him, Id buy all he can get this summer and yes Paul Ive already checked he DOES have a Commercial lic, but dont know if he needed it for the lionfish, he also sells Spineys…
and to IM4USC— AS a Chef I always have a backup plan and the diver I have contacted has experience and has sold this before, he knows what he doing, this isnt his first rodeo, which is the reason I am trying to get some from him . I hear you and everyone else and I thank you for your concerns… Son as I hear back from my gal needed a permit or not I will let you guys know, either way yes I do have a back-up plan… The dinner I am doing would just be the perfect spot to showcase this product that is all I am trying to do, just get the word of mouth out their. Like I said we have served it before and we are the 1st restaurant in Charleston who has served Lionfish and Id like to continue getting these Lionfish on some plates and off our reefs… But no need to turn me in to DNR, I will follow correct protocal…I just posted on here figuring most of you guys had commercial lic and mostly run off-shore charters, so that whole question of needed a lic or not wouldnt even had entered the question… Thanxs guys…for all the input, will let ya know what I find out about needed a lic…then we can go from there