Eating Invasive Species

（单词翻译）

An invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean¹ Sea has led the European Union to promote the animal as a food. The goal is to control the lionfish’s rapidly growing population.

“Wanted” says the poster of a lionfish on Larnaca Marina, in Cyprus. Dead or fried. Or even grilled³, or in a pasta dish.

The lionfish may be known to people who keep fish as pets. Its brightly colored stripes and fins⁵ look beautiful. However, its back fins are poisonous, its sting is toxic⁶ and it eats other fish. It also reproduces quickly: Lionfish lay up to 30,000 eggs every four days.

And it has no known predators⁷. At least, not yet.

Periklis Kleitou is a researcher at the University of Plymouth. “We hope that humans can become the enemy of the lionfish in the Mediterranean,” he said. Kleitou spoke⁸ to the Reuters news agency during a recent expedition off Larnaca.

Christos Giovannis led the expedition. He said, “Four years ago you were lucky to see one [lionfish], and everyone would take a picture, saying ‘wow.’ Now if you dive there, there are thousands.”

Scientists say climate change and an enlargement of the Suez Canal have allowed species that normally live in the Indo-Pacific to come to the Mediterranean.

Since early 2019, teams of divers⁹ have been swimming in the water around Cyprus in a campaign to reduce lionfish numbers.

Chefs have also given public classes on how to gut¹⁰ the fish. They also suggest ways to cook it – like deep frying or putting it on the barbecue.

Fans of the fish say it is delicious.

“Lionfish can be prepared in many different ways. On the grill², fried ... whichever way you want,” said local chef Stelios Georgiou. “As long as you remove the spine¹¹, which contains the venom¹², you can serve it like a normal fish.”

I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

stripe – n. a long, narrow line of color

fin⁴ – n. a thin flat part that sticks out from the body of a fish and is used in moving or guiding the fish through water

toxic – adj. containing poisonous substances

expedition – n. a journey especially by a group of people for a specific purpose (such as to explore a distant place or to do research)

gut – v. to remove the internal organs from (a fish or an animal)