On Friday, July 28th, the South Carolina Aquarium will host the next edition of their JuLionfish Festival, an all-inclusive, 21+ evening event dedicated to the elusive lionfish species. The festival includes live entertainment, lionfish tastings, small bites from local restaurants, a lionfish filleting demonstration, beer and wine, and a silent auction. Guests can learn more about the lionfish and celebrate the efforts of divers who participated in the JuLionfish Derby, a three-month-long competition to remove as many invasive lionfish from South Carolina waters as possible. Proceeds benefit Reef Research, a South Carolina Aquarium program focused on offshore research and fieldwork for scientific discovery and sustaining a balanced ocean. Lionfish, an ornamental species native to the Indo-Pacific region, were released into the Atlantic Ocean back in the late 1980s. Because of their high reproduction rates, voracious appetites, venomous spines, and lack of natural predators, the lionfish population has exploded over the years. This has caused significant concern for the health and wellbeing of native species like snapper, grouper, sea bass, and more. The dive community has been hunting lionfish through targeted efforts known as lionfish derbies, culling competitions to remove this invasive species from the Atlantic Ocean. By spotlighting the lionfish as a sustainable seafood choice, the JuLionfish Festival is spreading the word on how the community can help while uplifting the hard work of our local divers. Throughout the month of July, registered divers are participating in the JuLionfish Derby by chartering offshore, collecting invasive lionfish from their non-native environments and tracking their catch. The JuLionfish Festival will include a derby awards ceremony to celebrate their achievements. All-inclusive tickets to the JuLionfish Festival can be purchased here scaquarium.org/JuLionfish.
