Emerald Coast Open Lionfish 2025 Tournament

Lionfish slayers, divers, fisherfolks, and ocean lovers joined for an exhilarating 2025 lionfish tournament and awareness festival last weekend at Harborwalk in Destin, Florida.

 

The Emerald Coast Open is the largest lionfish tournament in the world. Lionfish are venomous marine fishes native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, or the Indo-Pacific region. Lionfish found along the southeastern United States coast, including the Emerald Coast of Florida, are not native. Lionfish are considered invasive species in the southeastern United States. With few natural predators and an ability to outcompete native species, lionfish can cause damaging impacts to native fishes, crustaceans, and the oceanic ecosystem overall.

 

The Emerald Coast Open and numerous partners, including Florida Sea Grant, support the lionfish tournament as an effort to reduce the number of lionfish along the Emerald Coast while educating and having fun. Amazing Emerald Coast volunteers (there were 35 this year) processed the lionfish—counting, weighing, and measuring. The lionfish are sold to buyers like restaurant owners who make delicious lionfish dishes, additionally spreading education about lionfish and lionfish as a yummy food source.

This year was a HUGE success! There were 7,180 lionfish brough in by 143 participants during the pre-tournament and an additional 13,322 lionfish during the main tournament. This means there was a total of 20,502 lionfish were removed from our local waters during the 2025 Emerald Coast Open!

Emerald Coast Open award categories included: most lionfish, biggest lionfish, smallest lionfish, guess the lionfish contest total, and restaurant week. Winners received $65,000 in cash prizes along with participant raffle for amazing prizes worth over $60,000. Winners for each category are listed here and on the Emerald Coast Open’s website and Facebook page.

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Most Lionfish

1^st– DWM1- 2038 lionfish

2^nd– Reef Madness- 1256 lionfish

3^rd – Shark Quest- 1034 lionfish

4^th – Sea Meat- 1029 lionfish

5^th – Rubber Duck- 965 lionfish

6^th – Covered in Blood- 909 lionfish

7^th – In the Clouds- 817 lionfish

8^th– DWM Spinal Tap- 695 lionfish

9^th– Zookeeper Slayers- 477 lionfish

10^th-Black Flag- 457 lionfish

Largest Lionfish

1^st– In the Clouds- 17.2 inches

2^nd– All Riled Up- 17.1 inches

3^rd – Off the Deep End- 16.9 inches

4^th – Pilot Plunder and Pillage- 16.7 inches

5^th – Fin Reapers- 16.6 inches

6^th – Hookshott- 16.5 inches

7^th – Down N Out- 16.4 inches

8^th– Opted Out- 16.3 inches

9^th– Tie- Covered in Blood- 16.2 inches

10^th-Tie- Rum Fish- 16.2 inches

Smallest Lionfish

1^st– Looking Back- 2.87 inches

2^nd– Todd’s Team- 3.11 inches

3^rd – Tie- In the Clouds- 3.14 inches

4^th – Tie- Blue Bucket- 3.14 inches

5^th – All Riled Up- 3.38 inches

6^th – DWM1- 3.54 inches

7^th – Smokediver- 3.62 inches

8^th– Shark Quest- 3.66 inches

9^th– Tie- Zookeeper Slayers- 3.74 inches

10^th-Tie- Off the Deep End- 3.74 inches

Guess Lionfish Total

Carole Donaldson- Guessed 13,300, which was 22 less than the actual 13,322 total

Restaurant Week

1^st– La Paz

2^nd– Bitterroot

3^rd– Beach Walk Café