How to clean and cook lionfish

The meat isn’t venomous. The spines are.

A lionfish has 18 venomous spines: 13 along the back, 2 on the pelvic fins (one each) and 3 on the anal fin. The venom is only in the spines, not the meat. But the spines can still sting after the fish is dead, so treat a dead lionfish like a live one until the spines are off.

Cleaning one, step by step

1. Gloves on. Use puncture-resistant gloves, not dish gloves.
2. Hold it by the head, away from the spines.
3. Cut the spines off with kitchen shears: the 13 along the back, working from back to front, then the pelvic spines and the 3 anal spines.
4. Throw the spines out where nobody gets stuck, like a closed container in the trash.
5. Now clean it like any other fish. Scale it, gut it and cut two fillets along the backbone. Rinse well and take out the dark blood line along the backbone.

Fillets freeze well for a few months.

If you do get stuck, soak it in hot water (no hotter than 113°F / 45°C) and see the first aid steps in our lionfish guide.

Ciguatera: the part people skip

Ciguatera is a natural toxin that builds up in reef fish in warm waters like ours. Lionfish can carry it like snapper, grouper or barracuda can.

• In a NOAA study in the U.S. Virgin Islands, about 12% of the lionfish tested had ciguatoxin above the FDA guidance level.
• Cooking and freezing don’t destroy it, and you can’t see, smell or taste it.
• The FDA lists Puerto Rico as an area with ciguatera concerns.

NOAA’s advice: before you harvest lionfish to eat, ask experienced local fishermen and local health agencies about the area. If you feel tingling, stomach trouble or hot things feeling cold after eating reef fish, see a doctor.

How to cook it

The meat is white, firm and mild, and gets compared to snapper or hogfish. That means most snapper recipes work: fried, grilled, in a sauce or in ceviche.

For local ideas, Puerto Rico Sea Grant (University of Puerto Rico) put out a free recipe book, Eat Lionfish! The Recipe Book, as part of its “¡Come pez león!” campaign.

Before you go hunting

In Puerto Rico, recreational spearfishing with scuba isn’t allowed. Hunting lionfish on scuba, or inside a reserve, needs a written authorization from the DRNA. The lionfish guide has the details.

General information, not medical advice. Sources: NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries, NOAA NCCOS (ciguatera study), CDC MMWR (ciguatera), FDA seafood hazards guidance, FWC Lionfish Summit report, Puerto Rico Sea Grant.