The Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) closed its 17th annual Florida Keys Lionfish Derby & Arts Festival with a record-breaking 2,480 invasive lionfish removed from South Florida reefs over two days.
The result is the highest single-derby total ever recorded in the Florida Keys, surpassing the 2023 Keys record of 1,898 fish by 582, an increase of 31%. It is also a new all-time record across REEF’s full derby program.
Held April 23-26 in Key Largo, the event brought competitive divers and the broader community together to combat the invasive lionfish, a species with few natural predators in the western Atlantic. Targeted removal events like REEF’s derby series remain one of the most effective tools available to suppress local lionfish populations and give native fish communities room to recover. The weekend concluded April 26 with the public Conservation Science and Arts Festival at the REEF Ocean Exploration Center, which included lionfish tastings, fillet and dissection demonstrations, live music, food trucks, local artists and vendors and the official awards ceremony.
Badfish Slayers broke the record for the most fish caught, with a haul of 659 lionfish. What set 2026 apart was not just the record catch, but the depth of the entire Apex Predators field. Five teams each removed more than 300 fish. In 2018, two teams cleared 300; in most other years, only one did.
Several Apex teams turned in the strongest performances of their derby careers, and several crews adjusted their strategies coming into this year, with combined rosters and dive teams of four contributing to the surge in removals. Captains also reported a notable share of larger fish. Length distributions from this year’s catch will be analyzed by REEF’s science team alongside data from prior events.
More than 38,800 invasive lionfish have been removed from local waters since the events began — fish that would otherwise prey on native species and disrupt reef ecosystems. The removal of 2,480 lionfish at this year’s events alone is estimated to prevent nearly 1.5 million acts of predation on native reef fish.
“Removing 2,480 lionfish in a single derby is a milestone for the Florida Keys, but what really stands out about 2026 is the depth of the field — every team raised their game,” said Alli Candelmo, REEF’s director of conservation science. “This is what a mature, well-trained removal community looks like, and it’s the result of years of work by divers, captains, and conservation partners across the region.”
The 2026 event’s premier sponsors were the Ocean Reef Conservation Association and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
More information is at reef.org/derby, via email to lionfish@reef.org or at 305-852-0030.
2026 Derby results
- Total lionfish removed: 2,480 (Florida Keys record; REEF derby record)
- Largest lionfish: Lionfish Eliminators — 420 mm (runners-up: Team Trash, 414 mm; Forever Old, 412 mm)
- Smallest lionfish: Badfish Slayers — 49 mm
- Smallest live lionfish: Tequilla Little Time — 84 mm
- Most fish, Apex Predators division: Badfish Slayers — 659 fish (a new REEF derby team record, eclipsing Forever Young’s 648 in 2023)
- Most fish, Reef Defenders division: The Hunters — 121 fish
Apex Predators Division — Final Standings
- Badfish Slayers — 659
- Aquamented — 395
- Lionfish Exterminator Corp — 392
- Team Trash — 361 (all-women’s team)
- Forever Old — 312
- Lionfish Eliminators — 143
