The Emerald Coast Open (ECO), the world’s largest lionfish tournament, is preparing for its 2024 event in Destin, Florida. 

• Building upon the success of the 2023 tournament, which saw 144 participants remove 24,699 lionfish, including 19,560 in just two days, organizers are excited for another record-breaking year. Last year’s event awarded $55,000 in cash prizes and over $40,000 in gear prizes.

Alex Fogg, Coastal Resources Manager for Okaloosa County and event organizer, explains that the 2024 ECO will feature several components, including a pre-tournament, main event, restaurant week, and a festival. 

“The pre-tournament kicked off back on February 1,” Fogg said. “It allows divers to go out on their own time, whenever the weather’s good, and harvest lionfish. But in order for those lionfish to count, they actually have to donate them to the event itself.”

Participants in the pre-tournament receive raffle tickets for each fish turned in, giving them a chance to win prizes from a table valued at over $50,000. “Dive gear, vacation packages, BOTE boards, all sorts of different things up for grabs. The more lionfish you shoot, the more raffle tickets you get and the higher the odds are of you getting a pretty awesome prize,” Fogg explained.

The main tournament will take place from May 17-19, with divers competing to harvest the most, largest and smallest lionfish. Teams of up to four can participate, with the final weigh-in on Sunday, May 19. 

• “Divers can start harvesting lionfish at sunrise and must be out of the water by sunset,” Fogg said. “Those fish can be turned in on either Saturday or Sunday but those fish have to be turned in for processing. We count them, measure them, collect some information for science and tally up the team’s totals. It wraps up with the award ceremony on Sunday afternoon.”

Restaurant Week, a collaboration with local restaurants, showcases lionfish dishes and educates customers about the impact of this invasive species. 

“We provide participating restaurants with about 30 pounds of lionfish filets, which produces about 100 dishes,” Fogg said. “They can produce an appetizer or a main course and prepare it any way that they want. But there is a competition associated with this. These restaurants are not being ranked on the dish. They’re actually being judged on the information that they’re providing to the guests.”

The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Festival, held at HarborWalk Village, will feature conservation vendors, lionfish jewelry and art, and activities for kids and families. The festival is free to attend, while the “Conservation and Cocktails” event offers food and beverage samples for a fee. 

Fogg emphasizes the importance of the tournament in giving the native ecosystem a break from the invasive lionfish population. 

“We recognize that we’re not going to get rid of lionfish. Lionfish are always going to be in our system but hosting events like this certainly gives it a break, especially leading into the season,” he said. “It’s awesome to see that people still come out and compete. I think the major prizes that we have is probably the encouragement that these divers need to get out there.”

The event also aims to raise awareness about the impact of lionfish on the local ecosystem and tourism. Over the years, lionfish has gone from a simple talking point to being a major part of the Visit Destin-Fort Walton Beach brand. From stickers, to murals and even traveling to convention shows with live lionfish, this species is a huge part of the destination.

• “Every time we have this event, it’s eye opening to see how many people don’t know about lionfish. Some think that you can’t eat them, or have no idea how big of a problem they are or how many lionfish are out there,” Fogg said. “And each year, we get to reach more people and educate them on this invasive species.”

The success of the Emerald Coast Open relies heavily on the support of sponsors, which allows the event to offer substantial prizes and attract more participants. “We used to only pay out to sixth place, but with the additional funds and sponsors that we’ve been getting, we’re able to pay out the 10th place. It gives divers the ability to get in the money, get a trophy and have a good time,” Fogg explained.

As Destin prepares for the 2024 Emerald Coast Open, organizers and participants look forward to another record-breaking year in the fight against invasive lionfish while promoting conservation, education, and dive tourism in the region. 

“Lionfish are part of Destin-Fort Walton Beach and we even travel with lionfish all over the world,” Fogg said. “It’s been neat to see how this has developed and I’m excited to see how it continues to develop in the years ahead.”

For more information on the event, head to emeraldcoastopen.com