Who ate my lionfish?

[gimme30]

You may have heard about this. US Fish & Wildlife ran a story about eating invasive species last year, one being Nutria. Rat on a stick anyone?
https://www.fws.gov/story/2025-02/eat-invaders

Also mentioned were feral hogs and iguanas. I've hunted hogs in Louisiana, I think it's legal there year round. They're dangerous but delicious. It makes sense. I suppose eating iguanas does too-the article calls them "chicken of the trees."

Then I ran across this article on Yahoo which is light on detail but leads with a picture that was a bit unsettling.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/experts-urge-people-eat-creatures-093000906.html

I saved for a long time and paid a pretty penny to get my lionfish! And when I finally did he was the crown jewel in my aquarium. Now we're encouraged to eat them!

The Dept. Of Agriculture has a long list of invasive critters and plants ( https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/species-profiles-list ) and it got me thinking....Would Americans give up their Big Macs for Gambian pouched rat, with cane toad and a liberal sprinkling of marmorated stink bugs? Will we someday be able to pull up to the drive thru and order bbq'd Burmese python and a side of deep fried Asian jumping worms?

Methinks not. At least, until we run out of cows.
A close friend of mine growing up was Filipino and as a guest at dinner I was offered the eyes of their baked pig's head. To them it's a delicacy. They found it amusing when I declined.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

 

[Uberhoust]

I wouldn't have any issue eating Nutria, hogs, rats, or even squirrels. I don't hunt anymore but why not eat the invasive critters. Even bugs if cooked right don't taste too bad, except I don't like the antennae on crickets as they get stuck between your teeth. I would have an easier time eating all the things above before I would eat yoghurt, disgusting stuff .

Lived for a short time on a native reservation in NWT, found I really like fish cheeks but still don't like fish eyes, caribou stomach contents (helps balance their diet), or caribou head (the Dene would put the whole caribou head in the oven).

 

[Magnum Man]

just about anything can be fixed in an edible fashion... I also had a lion fish, in my salt water days...

my church buddy, that helps us butcher, has 8 kids, and is a big outdoorsman, so they eat anything they can catch or kill, they gave us a recipe for canned fish, back when I was raising tilapia... fish that were too small to fillet, got canned, and it would be tough to tell it from canned salmon, so there is a recipe out there for anything to make it edible... they cook snails ya know... who would have ever thought about eating snails

 

[gimme30]

who would have ever thought about eating snails

Right? I guess if I were starving, and surrounded by snails....
I'm not as adventurous as @Uberhoust but I've eaten squirrel. No it doesn't taste like chicken. Snails too in the form of escargot. Once. As long as you don't look at it and can get past that sort of rubbery, spongey texture they don't taste too bad.

I don't like the antennae on crickets as they get stuck between your teeth

This cracks me up and grosses me out at the same time!