Coastal Resources

Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament removes more than 13,000 Lionfish

The Emerald Coast Open, the world’s largest lionfish tournament, returned to Destin, Florida this past weekend removing an over 11,000 lionfish in the two-day period. This impressive number is in addition to the 2,582 lionfish removed during the pre-tournament competition, which kicked off on February 1, 2021. In total, 13,835 lionfish were removed. Locally-based scuba divers, as well […]

Jared Williams

The Emerald Coast Open, the world’s largest lionfish tournament, returned to Destin, Florida this past weekend removing an over 11,000 lionfish in the two-day period.

This impressive number is in addition to the 2,582 lionfish removed during the pre-tournament competition, which kicked off on February 1, 2021.

In total, 13,835 lionfish were removed.

Locally-based scuba divers, as well as those from around the country, descended on Destin for the tournament, which is hosted by Destin-Fort Walton Beach and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The festival and tournament was held at the world famous HarborWalk Village and AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar.

Aside from tournament numbers, last week was Restaurant Week in Destin. Restaurant guests were able sample lionfish at one of the featured restaurants during the Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Restaurant Week!

Local chefs highlighted lionfish in unique dishes to help bring awareness to the lionfish invasion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Brotulas (Chef Al Massa with Owner Tyler Jarvis) was crowned Restaurant Week Champ with their pan-seared lionfish, served with forbidden rice and zucchini ribbons.

Over 50 volunteers from organizations such as Reef Environmental Education Foundation, Navarre Beach Marine Science Station and Sea Grant assembled to man the tournament and surrounding festival. 145 individual hunters competed for nearly $100,000 in cash and prizes.

Winning team, Deepwater Mafia 1 (Okaloosa Public Information Office)

Here are the stats for the tournament

Most lionfish:

Team	Count
Deepwater Mafia 1	1,623
Lionfish University	1,274
All Riled Up	938
Alabama Jammin	793
In the Clouds	771
Down & Out	698

Largest lionfish:

Team	Max (mm)	Max (in)
Big Blue	436	17.17
DWM Black Cat	431	16.97
Lionfish University	428	16.85
Bottom Time	424	16.69
Alabama Jammin	422	16.61
Deepwater Mafia 1	419	16.50

Smallest Lionfish:

Team	Min (mm)	Min (in)
Alabama Jammin	39	1.54
Big Blue	46	1.81
Down & Out	51	2.01
Lookin Back	52	1.69
Honky Dory	73	2.56
Lionfish University	74	2.91

Main Tournament TOTAL: 11,253

Pre-tournament numbers

Diver	Team	Total Fish Turned In
Tim Shivers	DWM 1	604
Dyllan Camplejohn	Camplejohn	309
Mark Kleinpeter	K9 Express	234

Pretournament total: 2,582

Combined total: 13,835

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