DESTIN, Fla. (WKRG) — A 39 millimeter lionfish (yes, we said milli) now holds the smallest fish record for the Emerald Coast Open.
Such a small feature earned the Alabama Jammin dive team a cash prize of $5,000.
The hunters captured a total of 13,827 lionfish on the entire tournament, including pre-tournament numbers from February.
Organizers announced the winners of the world’s largest lionfish tournament on Sunday afternoon at AJ’s Seafood & Oyster Bar.
The 2022 EOC winners have been announced:
| MOST FISH | COUNT | PRICE |
| 1.DWM1 | 1,623 | $10,000 |
| 2. UFL | 1,274 | $6,000 |
| 3. ALL CHILDREN | 938 | $4,000 |
| 4. ALABAMA JAMMIN | 793 | $2,000 |
| 5. IN THE CLOUDS | 771 | $1,000 |
| 6. DOWN AND EXIT | 698 | $500 |
| BIGGEST FISH | CUT | PRICE |
| 1. BIG BLUE | 436 millimeters | $5,000 |
| 2. BLACK CAT DWM | 431 millimeters | $3,000 |
| 3. UFL | 428 millimeters | $2,000 |
| 4. LOWER RESULT | 424 millimeters | $1,000 |
| 5. ALABAMA JAMMIN | 422 millimeters | $750 |
| 6.DWM1 | 419 millimeters | $500 |
| SMALLEST FISH | CUT | PRICE |
| 1. ALABAMA JAMMIN | 39 millimeters | $5,000 |
| 2. BIG BLUE | 46 millimeters | $3,000 |
| 3. DOWN AND EXIT | 51 millimeters | $2,000 |
| 4. LOOK BACK | 52 millimeters | $1,000 |
| 5.HONKY DORY | 73 millimeters | $750 |
| 6. UFL | 74 millimeters | $500 |
The divers made 11,253 throws in the two-day main tournament on May 13-14 and 2,574 in the pre-tournament.
2022 brought the biggest cash prize for teams, as well as a number of prizes for pre-tournament divers and event volunteers.
Learn more about lionfish:
Destin hosted a massive weekend full of invasive species information. The Harborwalk Village held a Lionfish and Libations event to eat the flaky whitefish on May 13.
Local marine experts and FWC employees held fish cutting demonstrations and information tables along the harbor throughout the weekend.
Several restaurants prepared lionfish dishes for tourists and locals.
The lionfish is not native to Flordia, imported from Asia around 1995.
The poisonous fish eat baby fish on local reefs, disrupting population growth in the Gulf of Mexico.
Lionfish hunters throughout the region are scuba divers who descend deep and kill fish with a perched spear.
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