Eating Invasive Species

 

An invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean¹ Sea has led the European Union to promote the animal as a food. The goal is to control the lionfish’s rapidly growing population.

“Wanted” says the poster of a lionfish on Larnaca Marina, in Cyprus. Dead or fried. Or even grilled³, or in a pasta dish.

The lionfish may be known to people who keep fish as pets. Its brightly colored stripes and fins⁵ look beautiful. However, its back fins are poisonous, its sting is toxic⁶ and it eats other fish. It also reproduces quickly: Lionfish lay up to 30,000 eggs every four days.

And it has no known predators⁷. At least, not yet.

Periklis Kleitou is a researcher at the University of Plymouth. “We hope that humans can become the enemy of the lionfish in the Mediterranean,” he said. Kleitou spoke⁸ to the Reuters news agency during a recent expedition off Larnaca.

Christos Giovannis led the expedition. He said, “Four years ago you were lucky to see one [lionfish], and everyone would take a picture, saying ‘wow.’ Now if you dive there, there are thousands.”

Scientists say climate change and an enlargement of the Suez Canal have allowed species that normally live in the Indo-Pacific to come to the Mediterranean.

Since early 2019, teams of divers⁹ have been swimming in the water around Cyprus in a campaign to reduce lionfish numbers.

Chefs have also given public classes on how to gut¹⁰ the fish. They also suggest ways to cook it – like deep frying or putting it on the barbecue.

Fans of the fish say it is delicious.

“Lionfish can be prepared in many different ways. On the grill², fried ... whichever way you want,” said local chef Stelios Georgiou. “As long as you remove the spine¹¹, which contains the venom¹², you can serve it like a normal fish.”

I’m John Russell.

Words in This Story

stripe – n. a long, narrow line of color

fin⁴ – n. a thin flat part that sticks out from the body of a fish and is used in moving or guiding the fish through water

toxic – adj. containing poisonous substances

expedition – n. a journey especially by a group of people for a specific purpose (such as to explore a distant place or to do research)

gut – v. to remove the internal organs from (a fish or an animal)

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

3 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

4 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

5 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

10 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

11 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

12 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。