Fishermen in Cyprus battle invasive lionfish — by turning them into tavern delicacy

Описание: (27 Dec 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Larnaca, Cyprus - 20 December 2025
1. Fisherman Photis Gaitanos pulls up a fishing line as he seeks to catch toxic toadfish
2. Gaitanos prepares to set sail
3. Gaitanos takes on his fishing nets onto his boat
4. Gaitanos pilots his boat toward his designated fishing ground
5. Gaitanos hooks bait that he will use to catch toadfish
6. Fishing line on the boat beck
7. Gaitanos holds the fishing line to sense if toadfish have taken the bait
8. Gaitanos pulls up toadfish and unhooks it
9. Squirming toadfish at bottom of rubber can
10. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Photis Gaitanos, Professional fisherman:
"From the time that these foreign fish began appearing in our seas, in the eastern Mediterranean and specifically in Cyprus, problems began to grow. First to appear was the toadfish, which is a great, great cancer, it’s toxic, can’t be consumed and it destroys everything in the sea, offspring and whole fish, meaning it eats them entirely."
11. Sun emerges from the horizon
12. Gaitanos tries to untangle a lionfish on the deck of his boat from the fishing net
13. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Photis Gaitanos, Professional fisherman:
"Another foreign fish which appeared after the toadfish was the lionfish, which is dangerous to marine biodiversity, because it consumes all of the offspring. It leaves nothing and it multiplies because it has no enemies. It’s very dangerous for all fish in the areas were it multiplies and stays."
14. Gaitanos untangles a lionfish
15. Close of Gaitanos untangling a lionfish from his net
16. Lionfish on boat deck
17. Gaitanos untangles large lionfish from net
18. Gaitanos clears out his nets of any remaining fish
19. Fishing boat heads to the harbor
20. Gaitanos clears out his nets and collects them in baskets
21. Gaitanos pilots his boat back into harbor
22. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Photis Gaitanos, Professional fisherman:
"We want to show to the European Union that there’s a big problem with the quantities of fish, with the kinds of fish that are caught, because some species have disappeared completely from our seas because of these other fish that arrived, but also because of climate change, which is also a significant issue, climate change.”
23. Gaitanos' boat sails into harbor
24. Gaitanos ties his boat to the dock with the help of a colleague
25. Lionfish having poisonous spikes removed
26. Close of a sign reading 'lionfish' in Greek and showing the price in euros
27. Fishmongers clean fish for customers
28. Wide of varieties of fish in styrofoam crates as displayed at the market
29. Larnaca fishing harbor

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Larnaca, Cyprus - 18 December 2025
30. Frontal shot of Stephanos Fish Tavern
31. Shot from the fish tavern's interior
32. Fish swim in tavern's water tank
33. Close-up of fresh, uncooked lionfish
34. Tavern owner Stephanos Mentonis places fresh lionfish on ice
35. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Stephanos Mentonis, Owner of Stephanos Fish Tavern:
"Buying it from the fishmonger, from the market, first of all it must be cleaned, it’s very dangerous. If they buy it and the fish isn’t cleaned, they must be especially careful, to cut its spines, because they’re very toxic. In other words, if they are stung, they won’t die but they’ll have excruciating pain, so it’s best to get them cleaned. From there, handling it is just like any other fish.”
36. Mentonis handles lionfish and points out how fishmongers remove the poisonous spikes before they reach his tavern
37. Mentonis dips lionfish in flour for frying
38. Mentonis drops lionfish in cooking oil
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