Meet Patrick Smith! He’s a lionfish hunter in Key Largo in the beautiful Florida Keys.

Patrick is retired from the Army after 25 yrs of service as an Infantryman. He currently works for the Department of Environmental Protection for the State of Florida. He’s been teaching Scuba Diving for 12 years and teaches a lionfish hunter specialty course. He is also a Master Underwater Criminal Investigator. Patrick’s hobbies include scuba diving, geocaching and cycling.

Patrick enjoys the tranquility of scuba diving – hunting lionfish is just a bonus. He gets enjoyment out of knowing that he is helping the reefs by removing lionfish as an invasive animal. It is sad we have to remove them but it is necessary for our native species of fish and reefs to survive.

Patrick has been lionfish hunting since 2019 and likes how creative the community is. People have found was to make use of lionfish. The ways to make use of lionfish so they are not wasted.