用刀叉击退狮子鱼

用刀叉击退狮子鱼

While most reports of a precipitous decline in an animal population are met with dismay, news of decreased sightings of the lionfish in some places is reason for optimism.

虽然大多数关于狮子鱼数量急剧下降的报道都令人沮丧，但在一些地方狮子鱼数量下降的消息却令人乐观。

Lionfish can be cooked like any other fish, as long as the poisonous spines are removed first. (Photo: Kjeld Friis/Shutterstock)

With its vivid candy stripes and incredible fringed, flowing fins, the football-sized lionfish is a beautiful creature to behold; Pterois volitans is also a fast-growing voracious eater that reproduces year-round. And it has no known predators in the eastern Atlantic and Caribbean, where it has taken up residence since the early 2000s, some believe as the result of people releasing the popular aquarium fish into coastal waters.

鲜艳的糖果条纹和令人难以置信的流苏，流动的鳍，足球大小的狮子鱼是一个美丽的生物，看;狐蝠也是一种快速增长的食虫动物，它们一年四季都在繁殖。一些人认为，由于人们将这种受欢迎的水族鱼放生到沿海水域，自本世纪初以来，这种鱼就在东大西洋和加勒比海地区定居下来。

Jamaica was the first to come up with a solution, launching a campaign to decrease the population of lionfish in an effort to preserve regional reefs suffering from the species’ taste for native juvenile fish and crustaceans. Jamaica's National Environment and Planning Agency revealed a 66 percent drop in sightings of lionfish in coastal waters with depths of 75 feet, ABC News reported at the time.

牙买加是第一个提出解决方案的国家，发起了一项减少狮子鱼数量的运动，以保护因狮子鱼对本地幼鱼和甲壳类动物的口味而遭受损失的区域珊瑚礁。据美国广播公司(ABC)当时的报道，牙买加国家环境与规划局(National Environment and Planning Agency)披露，在75英尺(约合15米)深的沿海水域，狮子鱼的目击量下降了66%。

This success and others have spawned copycat behavior in the United States and across the Caribbean — all focused on catching and eating lionfish.

这一成功和其他成功已经在美国和整个加勒比地区引发了模仿行为——所有人都专注于捕捉和食用狮子鱼。

In fact, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) isn't just encouraging the practice of catching lionfish; they'll pay you for it, according to the Miami Herald. Fishermen can earn up to $5,000 for "harvesting" and photographing at least 25 fish. It's part of the Lionfish Challenge, an ongoing push to rid the state's waters of the invasive species with a series of events that run through mid-October.

事实上，佛罗里达州的鱼类和野生动物保护委员会(FWC)不仅鼓励捕捞狮子鱼;据《迈阿密先驱报》报道，他们会付钱给你的。渔民们可以通过“收割”和拍摄至少25条鱼赚到5000美元。这是狮子鱼挑战的一部分，这是一项正在进行的运动，旨在通过一系列持续到10月中旬的活动，清除该州水域的入侵物种。

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em

如果你不能打败他们，就吃掉他们

One of the most successful methods of catching lionfish is also the simplest: Spearing them. (Photo: Drew McArthur/Shutterstock)

Dayne Buddo, a marine ecologist who focuses on marine invaders at the Caribbean island's University of the West Indies, believes Jamaica's decline in lionfish is due to changing attitudes about the fish by local fisherman. Although those multiple flowing dorsal fins are exquisite to look at, they pack a powerful punch of venom. Buddo said that in the past, Jamaican fishermen had been hesitant to deal with the pain-inducing fish. However, now the species has become a popular food item.

海洋生态学家达恩·布多(Dayne Buddo)在这个加勒比海岛屿的西印度群岛大学(University of the West Indies)专门研究海洋入侵者。虽然这些流动的背鳍看起来很精致，但它们含有强大的毒液。布多说，过去，牙买加渔民一直不愿处理这种会引起疼痛的鱼。然而，现在这个物种已经成为一种受欢迎的食物。

As it turns out, the spines are easily removed and cooking neutralizes the poison; plus, they taste good. The white flesh of the fish is said to be similar in flavor to certain snappers and groupers.

事实证明，刺很容易去掉，烹饪可以中和毒素;另外，它们味道很好。据说，这种鱼的白色果肉与某些鲷鱼和石斑鱼的味道相似。

In regions where they've become a problem, governments, conservation groups and even dive shops have been holding fishing tournaments and other promotions to try to make a dent in the crisis. Even the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a campaign urging the public to "eat sustainable, eat lionfish!"

在这些地区，政府、环保组织甚至潜水商店都在举办钓鱼比赛和其他促销活动，试图在危机中有所作为。甚至美国国家海洋和大气管理局(NOAA)也发起了一项运动，敦促公众“可持续地吃狮子鱼!”

Generally we'd bemoan the idea of eating an animal population into oblivion, but for the lionfish, and other invasive species of its ilk, conservation gastronomy may be the most effective solution. Other dwindling species are spared the fate of the plate, ecosystems are preserved, and people still get to eat.

一般来说，我们会对这种将动物种群吞噬殆尽的想法感到惋惜，但对于狮子鱼和其他入侵物种来说，保护美食或许是最有效的解决方案。其他正在减少的物种幸免于盘子的命运，生态系统得以保存，人们仍然可以吃东西。