An initiative of The Panama Project / 7 Seas Initiative
One invasive fish is quietly wrecking coral reefs across the Caribbean and beyond — and we're fighting back by removing it, studying it, and putting it on the menu. Born in Bocas del Toro, Panama, and growing into a Caribbean-wide effort.
Lionfish have no natural predators in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Left alone, a single reef's lionfish population can strip away the small fish that keep coral healthy — undoing years of restoration work. The Lionfish Project exists to change that outcome, reef by reef.
Founded by Steve Bender, founder of the 7 Seas Initiative, The Lionfish Project got its start in Bocas del Toro, Panama, alongside the Initiative's flagship Panama Project and its Rotary Reefs coral restoration work on Isla Solarte — and is growing into a wider Caribbean and global effort, connecting local fishing communities, dive operators, and restaurants everywhere lionfish threaten a reef to turn an ecological threat into a livelihood, a menu item, and a reason for visitors to care about the reef beneath their boat.
See who else is helping →
Understand where lionfish came from and why they're so destructive to coral reefs.
The history →Derbies, spear tournaments, and diver-led culls keep local populations down.
Who's helping →Lionfish is a mild, sustainable, low-mercury white fish. Demand drives removal.
Get the recipes →We help restaurants turn lionfish into a marketing story guests remember.
Restaurant toolkit →
In Bocas del Toro, spiny lobster is protected by a closed season (veda) each year from March through June to let them reproduce. That closed season leaves fishermen and restaurants short on income and menu options — and creates pressure to poach undersized, out-of-season lobster.
Lionfish is legal to harvest year-round, is not covered by any closed season, and is arguably better for the reef the more of it we remove. Give fishermen and kitchens a profitable, reef-positive alternative during lobster season, and you take pressure off juvenile lobster at exactly the time they need it most.
See the restaurant toolkit →See our latest posts below, then share your own catch, recipe, or restaurant's lionfish special with the community.
Live feed not loading? Some browsers block the embedded feed above — the button always works and takes you straight to our Facebook Page.
Got a lionfish recipe or a restaurant special worth showing off? Post it in our Facebook Group, or submit it directly through our Recipes page or Restaurant Wall — every submission is reviewed and posted for the whole community to see.
Whether you dive, cook, dine out, or just want to help spread the word — there's a role for you.
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