Traditional Fisheries on Shark Tank
Buy Lion Fish - Season 4 - Episode 419
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Eat Lionfish Save the Ocean! To Beat Em - Just Eat Em! |
The Traditional Fisheries is about to make a big splash in the Shark Tank that will change our fish diet (hopefully) forever.
Dave Johnson and Gary Groomes are the owners of Traditional Fisheries that specifically target the
invasive Lionfish that is ruining the coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Lion Fish which is a very colorful but venomous species, is at the top of their food chain with no known natural enemies to keep them in check. Just within the last few decades they have flourished in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean stalking their prey with real Lion-like precision.
The Lionfish once found only in the Pacific Ocean is thought to have been introduced in the Atlantic Ocean from folks who bought them for their aquarium's and let them go in the Ocean not knowing they would change the Ocean life forever.
The first known siteing of a Lionfish in the Atlantic was in 1985 off the coast of Florida and now they can be found off the entire coast as they continue to keep spreading and destroying corral reefs along the way. A single female Lion fish can lay up to one million eggs a year with a high rate of success because of no known natural predators. Unfortunately the time to completely eradicate them from the warm waters of the Atlantic have come and gone and is no longer even an option. They do not bite on a traditional hook because they are expert stalkers and rely only on fresh fish when they are good and ready. The only way to catch a Lion fish is to net or spear them one at a time while staying away from one of their 18 poisonous spines.
If there is a silver lining in this not so good news it's that these invasive fish are actually very good to eat and considered a delicacy in different parts of the world. While we may never completely eradicate the Lionfish off the coasts of the Atlantic, we can control their populations by getting them on the dinner plate and that's exactly what
Traditional Fisheries intends to do. This is definitely one product on the Shark Tank Show that could have a profound impact on the Oceans and our Planet as a whole and create countless new jobs in the process. The next time you go out to eat at a restaurant be sure and ask if they have Lion fish on the menu. As with all successful businesses, it all comes down to supply and demand and the Lionfish is no exception.
The supply is abundant and now it's time for demand to kick in and get this problem under control. |
The Lionfish invading the East Coast |
Other Invasive Fish While I love this idea and the entrepreneurial spirit behind taking a major problem and making it a successful business, it makes me wonder what other forms of invasive species can be controlled and even turned into a new income opportunity.
The Asian Carp seem to pop in my mind as another fish that is out of control and needs massive demand to control it's supply. While eating a Lionfish seems a lot more tastier then a carp, there still must be some demand for this fish that is taking over our rivers. Ironically the Asian Carp have been fished to near extinction from where they originated and yet, here in the States you can not give them away. Maybe we could
export the Asian Carp back to where they came from and reduce our deficit with China at the same time. Put a bounty on them and watch the good ole entrepreneurial spirit find new ways to control this very real problem before it is also too late. There must be a market for these fish somewhere and hopefully if Gary or Dave read this they are already working on other invasive species they could bring to the dinner table.
Shark Tank Success Idea To Control The LionfishI'm not sure if the Lionfish is good to eat as sushi but I assume it is. Once Traditional Fisheries makes a deal (that's our prediction :) with at least one of the Sharks they need to get a hold of
How do You Roll Sushi that was just on the show earlier this season. Include the Lion fish in their menu and name it the
"Shark Tank Special". Now that will sell a lot of Lionfish for many years to come and something that all Shark Tank Fans would want to take a bite out of.
Visit Traditional Fisheries WebsiteThe Lionfish Cookbook