Lionfish celebrations, Destin, FL: Restaurant Week-May 12-20, Emerald Coast Open-May 19-20, Festival-May 20-21, Challenge-Summer 2023
FWC photo from a previous lionfish event.
Lionfish Festival - May 20-21, 2023
The 9th-annual Lionfish Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, 2023, 10:00 am-5:00 pm CDT (11:00 am-6:00 pm EDT) at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar (116 Harbor Blvd.) and HarborWalk Village (34 Harbor Blvd.) in Destin, Florida. The event is being presented by the FWC and Destin and Fort Walton, Florida beaches.
This outdoor event is free of charge and open to the public. It will feature family-friendly activities, art, live music, diving and marine conservation booths, filleting demonstrations, and the world’s largest lionfish tournament, the Emerald Coast Open, that will be held Friday and Saturday, May 19-20.
Emerald Coast Open Tournament - May 19-20, 2023
Are you a diver interested in registering for the world’s largest lionfish tournament? The Emerald Coast Open will be held Friday and Saturday, May 19-20. The tournament will include categories for most lionfish, largest lionfish and smallest lionfish, with nearly $100,000 worth of prizes up for grabs! For official tournament rules and registration instructions, visit EmeraldCoastOpen.com.
Lionfish Restaurant Week, May 12-20, 2023
Sample lionfish at one of Destin–Fort Walton Beach’s featured restaurants during the Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Restaurant Week. Local chefs will highlight lionfish in unique dishes in the week leading up to the event to help bring awareness to the lionfish invasion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Schedule:
May 12 - The Boathouse Landing, 124 N. John Sims Pkwy., Valparaiso, FL 32580
May 13 - The Harbor Tavern, 306 Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL 32541
May 14 - Dewey Destin’s Harborside, 202 Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL 32541
May 15 - Crab Trap Destin, 3500 Scenic Hwy. 98 East, Destin, FL 32541
May 16 - La Paz, 950 Gulf Shore Dr., Destin, FL 32541
May 17 - Harbor Docks, 538 Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL 32541
May 18 - Brotula’s Seafood House & Steamer, 210D Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL 32541
May 20 - AJ’s Seafood & Oyster Bar, 116 Harbor Blvd., Destin, FL 32541
Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day - May 20, 2023
To increase public awareness about the lionfish invasion and encourage removal efforts, the FWC signed a resolution creating Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day (LRAD) in February 2015,to be celebrated on the first Saturday after Mother’s Day each year, which runs on May 20, 2023.
2023 Lionfish Challenge - June 1 - October 1, 2023
The 2023 Lionfish Challenge is quickly approaching. This summer-long tournament is open to everyone and is completely free to enter. Participants in last year’s Challenge reached a significant milestone of over 1 million lionfish harvested from Florida waters since the program began in 2014! Are you up for the Challenge? To read the full tournament rules and register, visit FWCreefrangers.com/lionfish-challenge. Keep up with the challenge on Facebook: Facebook.com/fwcreefrangers. Check out sponsor Zookeeper’s website at Lionfishzk.com.
Questions
If you have questions, contact the FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management by phone at (850) 487-0554.
Informative Links
FWCReefRangers.com
EmeraldCoastOpen.com
MyFWC.com/Lionfish
Facebook.com/FWCReefRangers
Facebook.com/EmeraldCoastOpen