Lionfish Podcasts

Robert Renfrow is an avid lionfish hunter and is our guest host on the Lionfish Podcast. He does a lot for the lionfish community to help spread the message about lionfish.

Boukje is the co-owner of Private Divers Bonaire and is one of the best companies to go lionfish hunting with! She is an instructor and offers all kinds of diving certifications and training. They are one of our Lionfish Expeditions if you want to hunt lionfish around the world. https://www.privatediversbonaire.com/ is their website or you can find them on https://www.lionfishcentral.org as well

Dr Steve Gittings is a scientist with NOAA and is very involved in the Lionfish Community. His work is well known throughout the marine conservation community.

Ian is a 6 year old Ocean Explorer and my best buddy in the Keys! He's full of energy and just the coolest kid around. He is also John Mirabella son so when we all hang out it's usually Ian and I getting into time outs! He had been wanting to go in the sub since we started this project and we finally had the chance to get him in it. This is one of the shortest podcasts we've done but I...

John Mirabella of Castaway Waterfront Restaurant and Sushi Bar sat down with us at Seacamp where we were holding a Submersible Training course. Castaway is located in Marathon and is one of the only restaurants that has lionfish on the menu full time! The Castaway was originally built in 1951 and known for many years as a place to get beer and shrimp steamed in beer.  After all, in 1951 there were...

Tiffany Duong is an Ocean Explorer who gets stories about her adventures to hungry readers around the world. She heard about our submersible project and stopped by for a couple of days to learn more. Her mission is to involve and inspire others to see our world in an entirely different way – and to want to save it. She hold degrees from UCLA (international development) and University of Pennsylvan...

Submersible Operations Students Amy, Lisa and Christine at Seacamp. Another group of students tell us their experience with the Submersible Operations course. A special thank you to Seacamp for letting us host this course at their beautiful location in Big Pine Key Florida. Submarine Reality There are many realities when it comes to the submersible/submarine space. Here are the top 3 that prevents...

The Incredible Seacamp with Camp Director Judy. Seacamp hosted our Submersible Operations course on property. It was the perfect setting for a course like this. If you ever get the chance to experience Seacamp - take it! It will create a memory of a lifetime! Seacamp is just 30 miles from Key West in the beautiful Florida Keys, Seacamp shows the way to the sense of wonder within you that will last...

Dowla came from Qatar to Seacamp so she could take our Lionfish Hunting Submersible Operations course. Dowla is no stranger to Lionfish Central. She interned with us on our submersible project in the Florida Keys last summer. Meet Dowla F Al-Suwaidi She is a postgraduate from the University of the West of England in Bristol UK were she earned two Masters in Environmental Consultancy and Wildlife C...

Submersible Operations at Seacamp with students Blaine, Salty Locs, Rachael and Dennis. We had a great conversation about the training and operations of the Lionfish Patrol Submersible. A special thank you to Seacamp for letting us host this course at their beautiful location in Big Pine Key Florida. Submarine Reality There are many realities when it comes to the submersible/submarine space. Here...

Nate started a nonprofit when he learned about the invasive lionfish. He works hard to help keep his reefs as free of lionfish as possible. That's a huge task considering our large the ocean is even in his area. He is an incredible tattoo artist and between the 2 he stays very busy. We met a few years ago briefly but stayed in touch over the last few years. His passion for the ocean is great and h...

Christine is another character in the comic book Lionfish Reef Heroes. She is a scientist, a conservationist and an entrepreneur. Christine has also been a friend of Lionfish Central and does her part to help rid our waters of the invasive lionfish!

Meet Angi. She is one of the coolest characters when it come to marine conservation. Her entire life has been around and in the ocean. Even her work keeps her living her passion and dream when it comes to being one with the ocean. She is also a character in the comic book Lionfish Reef Heroes.

If you follow any of the lionfish community posts on social media or YouTube you've probably seen Julie's posts. She goes by the name SaltyLocs. She is passionate about hunting lionfish and protecting the reefs both in Florida and in St Thomas. She is also a character in the Lionfish Reef Heroes comic book. In fact, she is the only character that was not made into a cartoon - instead we used her S...

The Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament and Festival took place in November of 2022. It was 3 years in the making due to Covid lockdowns and restriction. The event had a great turnout and the islanders came together to help make this the biggest one to date. From children to the elderly, everyone came out to learn, taste, view and win prizes - lots of them. Steven was one of the person's that helped...

If you've ever looked into the lionfish community you will have heard of Lionfish University. They are the gold standard for specific lionfish work throughout the world. We sat down with Jim and Stacy, 2 of the founders of lionfish University and had a great conversation. This is by far the longest podcast we have done and it is worth listening to. Here's a little information about the founders. J...

If you've ever bought lionfish jewelry from Belize you've probably heard of Kaj. She is the founder of Kaj Expressions and she specializes in lionfish jewelry. We sat down in Antigua where she was teaching some lionfish jewelry classes for the locals. This was on the weekend of the Antigua Open - the country's first major tournament and festival.  https://www.kajexpressions.com/

Lisa is the Executive Director of the History of Diving Museum in Islamorada in the beautiful Florida Keys. She is an avid scuba diver and a great friend of the Lionfish Community. She has even helped us with our submarine project and was instrumental for helping us get our first dives up and running.  About the museum - Over a span of forty years, Drs. Joe and Sally Bauer acquired one of the...

Well it's that time of year again were I get to catch up with Ivana from sunny Curacao! Ivana is the owner of Pro Dive Vibes and she gives us an update on what's happened in the past year - and wow has she been busy!

During DEMA in Orlando I got a chance to sit down with Job from AB Dive in Bonaire. We talked about the challenges of lionfish hunting due to the rules on the island. 

Meet Patrick Smith! He’s a lionfish hunter in Key Largo in the beautiful Florida Keys. Patrick is retired from the Army after 25 yrs of service as an Infantryman. He currently works for the Department of Environmental Protection for the State of Florida. He’s been teaching Scuba Diving for 12 years and teaches a lionfish hunter specialty course. He is also a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator...

Meet Arnold Postell from the South Carolina Aquarium and their first ever JuLionfish Derby! They recently finished their lionfish derby and festival and it was a great success. We sat down for a great conversation about lionfish in South Carolina and the efforts the Aquarium is trying to achieve. 

Lisette and Dunja sit down to recap the trip and Curacao Lionfish Derby. It was an incredible trip and spending time with these 2 lionfish hunters was amazing. 

Dunja and Marcel are the owners of Central Dive Curaçao and I spent a couple of dats diving with her and Lisette. Dunja is probably the best lionfish hunter on Curacao. Unique, very relaxed and just wonderful, these are our first diving feelings on Curaçao.  They dive more than 65 dive sites directly from the beach. The concept is simple: after checking in at the dive center we drive with our...

I met Farra and Joline who are a couple of Freediving Lionfish Hunters in Curacao. They are doing their part to save the reefs from the invasive lionfish. While most of the lionfish hunters use SCUBA they do not. Freediving is a lot harder to do and you usually catch less. Theur story is inspiring and I'm grateful that I got the chance to meet them both!