3rd Annual Lionfish “Lion-Tamer” Dive Tournament

By Silvia Rueda; Photos by Val Schoger and Silvia Rueda

The Lion Tamer Spearfishing Tournament was was held Saturday July 26 at Capt. Anderson’s Marina during OceanFest, an all-day festival celebrating Ocean Week.  The Diver’s Den, Guy Harvey, Capt. Anderson’s Marina, and OceanFest hosted the event. Participants dove for the invasive Lionfish, which is overly abundant in local waters, and competed for the lightest and heaviest catches. Divers also lunged for black Snapper, Red Grouper, and Gag Grouper. The weigh-in began at 4 p.m., as divers brought in their catches. Participants in the lead nervously watched the process, hopeful that other divers wouldn’t thump their weight. Tommy Hallman fetched the lightest and heaviest Lionfish, with the smallest weighing in at .01 lbs. and the largest at 2.31. Carol Cox managed to bring in the most Lionfish, with a total of 129, as well as the heaviest Gag Grouper.  The heaviest Black Snapper went to Dave Buckner and the Red Grouper to Troy Branham. The public was able to get a taste of the fresh catch at Chef Konrad’s “Hungry for Lionfish” tasting. The tasting hoped to increase the demand for Lionfish in this area; some restaurants have already begun including the fish in their menus.

 

[author image=”https://www.panamacityliving.com/media/2013/11/Silvia-Rueda.jpg” ]Silvia is a student at the University of Florida majoring in journalism. She was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and moved to the U.S. when she was seven years old. After learning English, she fell in love with writing and the rest is history. Silvia hopes that she can use the skills she has learned in journalism to tell interesting stories and learn more about the world every day. She enjoys playing the guitar, spending too much time on the beach and dabbling in photography. [/author]