Fish can be feast of our problems

If you can’t beat them, eat ’em. That is the strategy institutions and individuals are using in the Caribbean and U.S. to fight the coral reef-threatening lionfish. “It is not much of a stretch,” said Karolin Troubetzkoy, executive director of St. Lucia’s Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet resorts, referring to the lionfish as a meal. “Lionfish is a white flaky, but firm, fish with a flavor between grouper and mahi mahi.”

When properly filleted and prepared, the naturally venomous fish is safe to eat — and quite tasty.The lionfish (photo) is native to the Western Pacific Ocean but was introduced to U.S. and Caribbean waters, where it has no known predators. With a year-long reproductive cycle, the agressive sea predator reduces of population of grouper, snapper and other native species — which eat algae that would otherwise allow seaweed to overtake and destroy the coral reefs.

The culinary war against the lionfish invasion began in the U.S. with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2010 kickoff of its “Eat Lionfish” campaign — a sentiment that has taken hold in the Caribbean too.

Here’s ‘SoulFest!’

The diverse student population of Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College is pulling together a plethora of international tastes, sounds and sights to create “SoulFest!” — an event-filled fundraising festival that’s coming to the college’s main campus on Sept. 9.

Taking place in the college’s parking lot and neighboring streets, the festival lineup includes an array of foods from ethnic neighborhood restaurants and “inspired chefs.” There will be music — salsa, hip hop, gospel, reggae, soca and funk — along with family-friendly entertainment and activities.

All proceeds from the festival will benefit the Medgar Evers College Educational Foundation, which provides scholarship and academic program support.

For general information or vendor/sponsor questions, call Sonia Wilson at (718) 270-6968.

Manning’s alumni barbecue

The annual Westmoreland Family Fun Day Barbecue — a music-, food- and games-filled event that benefits the Manning’s School in Jamaica — takes place on July 16 at Hempstead Lake State Park in West Hempstead, L.I., starting at 11 a.m. All proceeds will go towards Manning’s School. Tickets to the New York Chapter of the Manning’s Past Students Association’s family-friendly event are $15. For tickets and information, call (914) 325-4064, or (718) 515-2098.

Akashic Books b’day

Marking 20 years of bold and informative independent publishing, Akashic Books is holding a “Birthday Bash” on Tuesday in Brooklyn — and debuting a new crop of publications.

Recently released books such as “Hadriana In All My Dreams” by Haitiborn writer René Depestre; Trinidad and Tobago-rooted Shani Mootoo’s “Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab”; and “Trinidad Noir: The Classics,” edited by Trinidadian writer Earl Lovelace and Robert Antoni, the son of a Trinidadian, are examples of the independent company’s dedication to “publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction.” Visit www.akashicbooks.com for more on the company.