Lionfish Hunting Tournaments
Get involved with lionfish removal by attending one of the following derbies or events.
Emerald Coast Open
The Emerald Coast Open (ECO) is the largest lionfish tournament in the world! In 2024, ECO had 147 participants and removed 11,844 lionfish despite rough weather – 7,411 in 2 days! ECO gave away $65,000 in cash prizes and over $60,000 in gear prizes. We are looking forward to an exciting 2025 tournament!
Pre-tournament: February 1 – May 15, 2025 | Main Tournament: May 16-17, 2025
2024 Standings
Despite Mother Nature being cranky this year, the 2024 Emerald Coast Open lionfish tournament was, again, a huge success. With 147 participants this year, the lionfish population was lessened by over 11,000. We saw lots of new teams and new faces participating and ranking this year. It seemed the advantage went to the East Coast Florida teams with much better weather, but the local crews did an amazing job and won lots of prizes too. With a record amount of prizes and the largest cash payouts, the Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament retains its title of the Largest Lionfish Tournament in the World.
2025 Lionfish Tournament & Event Calendar
REEF’s Lionfish Derby Series
April 24, 2025 – April 26, 2025
Florida Keys Lionfish Derby & Festival
Key Largo, Florida
FWC Lionfish Challenge
A free summer-long lionfish tournament open to recreational and commercial competitors of all ages around the state of Florida.
Date: May 24 – September 14
Full tournament rules and to register, visit FWCreefrangers.com/lionfish-challenge.
Lionfish Tournament News
Marathon’s Rachel Bowman is Still the Queen of the Lion(fish)
Marathon’s own lionfish hunting savant Rachel Bowman took her talents to Destin, Florida on May 14 and 15 for the Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament, a yearly contest aimed at removing the invasive, destructive and delicious Indo-Pacific fish.
Divers catch a record 24,699 invasive lionfish in tournament off Florida’s Gulf Coast
It’s tough to say which are more disliked in Florida: invasive pythons or invasive lionfish. But based on sheer numbers, venomous lionfish appear to be besting eviction efforts. Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article275739561.html#storylink=cpy
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