South Carolina Aquarium to Host JuLionfish Festival on July 29th

On Friday, July 29th, the South Carolina Aquarium will host the JuLionfish Festival, an all-inclusive, 21+ event that will bring you up-close and personal with the elusive and invasive lionfish species. Along with a beer and wine bar, a silent auction, and entertainment, local chefs will be onsite cooking up sustainable seafood fare, including special dishes incorporating lionfish.

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 proceeds from the JuLionfish Festival will support South Carolina Aquarium Reef Research, a program focused on offshore research and fieldwork for scientific discovery and sustaining a balanced ocean.

All-inclusive tickets to the JuLionfish Festival are $65 and member tickets are $60. Buy tickets at scaquarium.org/JuLionfish.

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