Meet Zoe, the World’s Youngest Lionfish Hunter

Lionfish hunter Zoe Kunzelman is a natural. An unbelievable shot with a handheld spear, the PADI junior advanced open water diver’s accuracy is legendary in the Bay Islands of Honduras. Especially in Roatan, where she became the youngest certified and licensed lionfish hunter worldwide at the age of 11.

Averaging around 10 lionfish per dive, with her biggest haul being 18, Zoe, now 12, is a gun. So good, in fact, that Bay Islands lionfish hunting licensor Buck Beasley met with government officials to personally vouch for Zoe’s exceptional buoyancy control, guaranteeing no damage would come to the coral or reef system to ensure her certification.

Most divers are aware of the threat to reef systems that lionfish pose. Just as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has the crown-of-thorns starfish, the lionfish is enemy No. 1 to the Mesoamerican Reef all throughout Central America. As this predator has steadily depleted fish species, impacting entire ecosystems, its numbers have exploded.

To counteract this, most Caribbean nations are now actively hunting lionfish to bring those numbers down and try to slow the devastation. The Roatan International Lionfish Tournament, scheduled to begin October 6, was the first of its kind.

Divers on Belize’s barrier reef, the second largest in the world, proudly hunt lionfish, taking delight in serving it every way imaginable in most beachside restaurants. Zoe has joined them hunting in Belize, Honduras and Mexico, with great success.

I meet Zoe on Cozumel Island, just off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, on a dive at Palancar Reef. Famous for its many large cuevones (underwater caves) and swim-throughs, it seems like the perfect lionfish hunting ground.

Under the surface, I see through the clear Caribbean water that her spear is empty as she emerges, disappointed, from a swim-through. Today is not her day. Over two dives, she and the crew strike out. Cozumel divers are fiercely proud of the island’s reefs, and lionfish are killed on sight daily, so it’s likely someone else got there first.

Of course Zoe would prefer to have a catch, but the trip isn’t a total bust. “I love teaching others to hunt above water, but I'm not good at sharing the experience underwater—I'm too competitive,” she says. “And I'm terrible about sharing the fish once it’s cooked.”

Zoe’s love of the ocean and passion for cleaning up its reefs has meant she has become known as somewhat of an authority. Having dived in the United States, Honduras, Belize and Mexico, she is helping teach other divers tips on how to become more successful spearing and harvesting lionfish. It’s trickier than it looks. Once caught, the lionfish’s 13 venomous spines are quickly snipped off underwater to avoid any chance of injury to oneself or fellow divers.

Her expertise has also led to another first for the junior diver. While in Honduras, Zoe was asked to teach a group of divers how she hunts lionfish so effectively. They were so impressed with her that she was offered the opportunity to become a member with the U.S. National Association of Black Scuba Divers. Zoe is coming up on her second year of membership with the group.

When asked what she loved most about being a member of NABS, Zoe says, “The coaches and the people that work there are so amazing and so sweet; I love them so much. I get a heart-warming feeling every time I see them.”