It is official. Bermuda is at war.

Tomorrow, a group of brave soldiers will be going off to battle invaders in our waters.

The enemy are lionfish who come armed with nasty stinging barbs, and eat up everything in their path including juvenile fish integral to the health of Bermuda’s coral reefs.

Our coral reefs, in turn, stop the Island from being eroded away by ocean waves.

The Groundswell Lionfish Competition kicks off at sunrise and will end at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS).

When the catch is in, the participants will hand over the spoils of war to be cooked for a victory feast.

The event is part of a campaign called Eat ‘em to Beat ‘em started in 2009 by Selange Gitschner and Matthew Strong.

Chef Derek Myers, Executive Chef of the Island Restaurant Group, will be overseeing food preparation at the event.

Some lionfish have already been caught ahead of time and are being turned into delicious food samples.

Mr Myers said he had been called upon twice before to cook lionfish for special events.

“It is a very delicate fish,” he said. “It doesn’t have a distinct taste. It is a clean fish with no after taste.”

He described the flavour of lionfish as “buttery” not unlike hogfish.

The plan is to make satays with different glazes and ceviches.

At the dinner, he will also be doing a cooking demonstration to show what can be done with lionfish.

He said the trick to cooking lionfish or any similar white, flaky fish, is to keep it simple.

“If you get too complicated it will take away from the fish,” he said. “Eat it with a simple salsa or glaze.

“You want the fish to be the main part of the dish; you don’t want it to be overpowered.”

Mr Myers said that while he might feel guilt eating marine life that might be under threat, he feels no qualms about eating lionfish.

“It feels good to be doing this,” he said. “We are fully into this. This is something I believe in and something I want to keep pushing.”

It is hoped that the competition will take at least 70 lionfish out of the Bermuda marine environment.

“This is not about eradication but about management and the Eat ‘em to Beat ‘em campaign is our best bet at this point,” said Ms Gitschner. “Come to the tournament to learn how to safely handle these fish, see how they can be prepared for cooking and taste these fish for yourself.

“Or better yet, if you want to really make a difference, join in the tournament and kill some of these fish for yourself.

“If you are a strong swimmer and have some experience in spearfishing we need your help.”

She said that Groundswell was trying to change the mindset of Bermudians.

“Our reefs are under threat,” she said. “Some of these threats, like global warming and ocean acidification are hard to tackle on a local level, however other threats such as overfishing, pollution, and invasive species can be managed locally.”

Groundswell wants Bermudians to show some ‘reefspect’ and help limit the damage to our reefs caused by the invasive species.

It also wants to ease the fishing pressures of some of our threatened fish species by targeting the only fish that we can catch and say is helping the environment.

“Bermuda is lucky as we saw the invasion of the lionfish coming and have had time to devise a strategy,” said Ms Gitschner.

She said Bermuda’s neighbours to the south have not been so fortunate and have witnessed the loss of the next generation of fish on their reefs.

The lionfish, despite its size, is a top predator with a huge hunger.

Luckily, there is a species on earth with a hunger to match, human beings!

“The good news is Lionfish taste great and are easy to catch if you know how to handle them safely,” said Ms Gitschner. “If we take our skill in fishing and direct this towards the lionfish we can manage their numbers.”

The competition will be tomorrow (July 19) with a rain date of Sunday (July 20). The registration deadline is today at 5pm.

The competition will start at sunrise and run to 3pm when boats must be in at BIOS.

The lionfish tasting party and prize-giving will be after the weigh-in.

See the website www.reefspect.com for a full list of rules and an entry application.

There is a non-refundable $25 individual fee required.