BY AL EDWARDS

REGIONAL seafood distributor Rainforest headquartered in Jamaica, is to begin selling and distributing lionfish.This fish species has become an apex predator and is responsible for reducing local species but at the same time it is edible and is increasingly making its way onto many Jamaican dinner tables.

Rainforest’s marketing manager Roger Lyn, speaking with Caribbean Business Report yesterday, said: “We have to protect our oceans and its supplies because if we do not, we will go out of business. We will be selling and distributing lionfish and be playing an active role in the ‘Eat them to Beat them’ campaign. This fish is devouring other species which we have to protect and ensure their proliferation.”

Lyn pointed out that the lionfish has many spines, rather like a porcupine, which act as both an attack and defence mechanism and though this fish is venomous, it is not poisonous and has to be handled properly before consumption. In this regard Rainforest Seafoods will be embarking on a public education excercise.

“We were approached by Dr Buddo of the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory (affiliated to the University of the West Indies) and we were very excited to come on board. We saw it as an opportunity to not only protect our coastal waters but bring a new product to the market. This is a medium to high-end delicious fish very much like grouper. We have to educate our fishermen on how to handle and deal with this fish.

“Jamaicans are receptive to consuming the Lionfish and we featured it at last year’s Jamaica Observer Food Awards and it went down very well. We will now be bringing it to the mainstream market with an energetic marketing campaign,” added Rainforest’s marketing manager.

The plan now is to offer lionfish as a fillet product processed at Rainforest’s new facility on Slipe Road. This plant will come in at a cost of US$8 million and should come on stream before the end of this year. Rainforest also has plants in Belize and Honduras.

Scotiabank Group is partnering with the Centre for Marine Sciences at the University of the West Indies (Mona) as it leads The National Lionfish Pilot Project. It will be contributing $4 million to this effort. This project is funded by the Global Environment Facility, The United Nations Environment Programme, The Government of Jamaica, and University of the West Indies and is coordinated by the National Environment and Planning Agency. It aims to conduct research to formulate and implement response actions to manage and control the species in Jamaica as well as far-reaching training and public awareness.

The lionfish has been classified as a Marine Invasive Species and there is growing concern by marine scientists that this species will cause significant impact to the native marine life, especially commercially important fish and crustacean species. Rainforest Seafoods will market lionfish commercially both in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.