Lionfish and bake may taste delicious but the misconception that it is poisonous remains the biggest obstacle for its acceptance as an alternative to shark and bake. This is the view of University of Southampton postgraduate researcher Fadilah Ali. Ali, the PhD candidate who has dissected more than 10,000 lionfish, told the Sunday Guardian via e-mail that the lionfish was not poisonous, but that the tips of its barbs contained venom instead. If it stuck someone, it would be painful but was not fatal, and no one has died from it.
Ali said throughout the Caribbean there was a great misconception that the lionfish was poisonous and as a result there was a general unwillingness to eat the fish. She said education via the media was the only way to clear up these misconceptions and also prove to people the benefits of eating lionfish.
Ali said another means was to expose people to successful case studies using other islands like Jamaica and Belize which exported lionfish. She also gave examples of lionfish culinary competitions, a lionfish cookbook—proof that people were eating lionfish and surviving. She said organising lionfish tasting events was another way to overcome this perception.
Shark has been good to the Fergusons
The Sunday Guardian returned to Maracas on Wednesday and asked vendors, fishermen and visitors for their comments after the first lionfish and bake taste-test was conducted at Richard’s Bake and Shark shop, by Papa Bois Conservation director Marc de Verteuil, Institute of Marine Affairs coral reef ecologist Jahson Alemu and Ali on February 15. The shark has been good to the Fergusons. Four out of the six shark and seafood shops at Maracas are owned by family members, creating a veritable shark-and-bake dynasty.
Giselle Ferguson, from Richard’s, said since the article was published in the Sunday Guardian’s February 16 edition, four out of ten people came to the popular establishment asking if they had lionfish on the menu. She said the other six stuck to the bake and shark staple that Richard’s is famous for among tourists and locals alike. Ferguson said customers may probably want to try the lionfish, but they needed more knowledge of the species as they were afraid of the lionfish’s venom.
Gary Ferguson, the owner of Richard’s and Giselle’s brother, said, “A lot of people came and asked about the lionfish, but not everybody wants to try it.
‘People asking for the fish’
“The feedback we got from the people was anything that is poisonous they don’t want any part of it. “They keep asking if I have and I tell them I don’t. It was the environmentalists who brought just a few lionfish, and we prepared it in our kitchen for them to test.” Ferguson said people will know the difference between the shark and lionfish as they were two different textures and quality of meat. He said perhaps lionfish could be on the menu in the future, as well as red fish or grouper and bake, but shark remained the main delicacy in T&T.
People came from all over the world to try Richard’s shark and bake as it was also very healthy, hence the reason why most of the population loved shark, Ferguson said with a hearty laugh. He said his grandmother, 95-year-old “Ma” Ferguson, the matriarch of the family, was living testament to the health benefits of eating shark and not eating meat, as she was very strong. According to Ferguson, sharks don’t develop cancer and were good to treat ailments such as arthritis and inflammation.
However, the manager of the US-based conservation group, Pew Charitable Trusts, Angelo Villagomez said sharks do not have cancer-fighting properties.
‘I will lose customers if I start to sell it’
Ferguson said sharks were very healthy to eat. His grandmother utilised most parts of the shark, using the liver to make shark oil, head, fins and bones which they all grew up on also. Patsy Ferguson, of Patsy’s Bake and Shark and Gary’s aunt, said the lionfish was too dangerous to eat and was too much of a risk. She said since the Sunday Guardian’s lionfish story was printed, a lot of customers came asking if she was selling it as they wanted no part of it, believing the lionfish to be poisonous.
Patsy said if she started to sell lionfish, she will lose customers. She said, “When my customers come here they ask for shark or king fish, they don’t want no other fish. “People use to say we’re selling catfish, that is a no-no, we sell strictly mako shark, blue shark or blacktip shark that comes from Suriname, we don’t get any from Las Cuevas or Maracas. “People used to sell catfish but not me or my family.”
Ian Ferguson, from Nathalie’s Bake and Shark and Gary’s brother, said people in Maracas were not accustomed or familiar with lionfish and their specialty was shark. A bake-and-shark lover said she didn’t ask what type of shark she was eating, but she enjoyed it and didn’t think of any of the consequences. She said she wouldn’t want to eat such a predator like the lionfish.
Leo Kowlessar, a Trinidadian living in New York, said he didn’t believe that sharks will ever get wiped out because there were so many different types of sharks all over the world, and if one species became scarce, they will find another shark species.
Aboud: Longline vessels decimating shark, other marine life
Speaking in a brief telephone interview from China, on Thursday, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) secretary Gary Aboud said the scores of Taiwanese longline fishing vessels operating in local waters were responsible not only for decimating shark species but were also depleting other marine life. Sonny, from Canada, said lionfish can probably replace shark if it was being overfished.
Maria, from Venezuela said shark was not as popular in her homeland as here, however, it should not be overfished to the point of extinction. Terry Lee suggested creating new and innovative dishes instead such as lionfish accra and pholourie instead of looking for a substitute for shark and bake. Aria said she would have to taste it to make a judgment call. John said he wouldn’t eat lionfish because the venom it carried was enough of a deterrent.
Fisherman “Master Brother John” from the Maracas Fishing Depot said one of the fishermen received a puncture in his arm from a lionfish’s barb in his net but the injury was not serious when he want for medical attention. John confirmed the lionfish was in T&T waters, but they were only catching a few in their nets. Fisherman Clement Vargas said if the lionfish was in abundance, it could be used as an alternative to shark, but so can other readily available species of fish.
Another fisherman named “Django” said those who fish had some species that they kept for themselves, such as “power,” and they knew how to cook catfish and even stingray to make them taste like shark and the average consumer wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Papa Bois launches campaign to save the shark
Papa Bois Conservation launched its campaign to raise awareness in T&T about the worldwide threats to sharks from overfishing at the current unsustainable rate on February 23. The launch took place at the Maracas turn-off, leading to the bake-and-shark haven in Maracas Bay. The report was carried in the international media, such as the London Metro, Washington Post and Associated Press.
De Verteuil said he was preparing to meet with the shark-and-bake vendors to do a presentation on shark conservation, the consequences of depleting shark populations, and the lionfish as a possible alternative to shark and bake.
• Continuing next week: Conservationists, sea food processors and scientists give their views on the lionfish and the worldwide threat to the shark.