Saving the ocean one meal at a time
Posted by staff / January 21, 2014 Christie Wilcoxlionfish
If there’s one thing humans excel at, its wiping out the species we find most tasty, so ecologists are considering tempting our insatiable palates with a dish that’s destroying the ecosystem of the Atlantic: lionfish.
Forget the heavy-handed and mighty depressing tone of many an environmental campaign, though, because the approach of Discover Magazine‘s Christie Wilcox is one of unbridled enthusiasm and adventure. Apparently, it’s quite the thing for biologists to taste their subjects, the old “To know them is to eat them” approach (sorry, vegans!), and she finally joined the club.
Now, I’m thrilled to report that while I was in Beaufort, NC to collect samples, I finally joined the cool biologists club. I ate my study species.
And they are delicious.
It certainly helps that I study lionfish. Unlike many of my colleagues, my fish are perfectly palatable, even downright mouthwatering. Still, until a couple weeks ago, I had never tasted the freshest delicacy to hit the southeastern US, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean.
Beaufort has jumped on the “eat’em to beat’em” bandwagon with a wildly successful lionfish derby, and — who knows? — it could soon be coming to a plate near you, too!
Full story at Discover Magazine via Boing Boing.
Photo credit: Fotolia
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