An Invasive Species of Fish Is Taking Over America's Waterways

[Judi Lynn]

An Invasive Species of Fish Is Taking Over America's Waterways
By: VICE News
Sep 24 2014

- video -

Asian carp—a slimy, ugly, and often gargantuan species of fish—have taken over many waterways in the United States. First introduced in the US in the 1960s to control weeds and parasites at aquatic farms in Arkansas, the bottom feeders eventually escaped and made their way through the Mississippi River system, eating almost everything in their path and severely damaging ecosystems across the Midwest. Today, government officials are concerned that the fish will invade the Great Lakes, destroy more ecosystems, wreak havoc on the region's multibillion dollar fishing industry, and spread to almost every major waterway in the Northeast.

VICE News traveled across Illinois to see how people are dealing with the Asian carp invasion, visiting the Redneck Fishing Tournament—where the sole mission is to catch as many carp as possible—touring a processing plant trying to monetize the fish, and then heading to Chicago, where we learned that Asian carp are a symptom of a much larger issue.

http://www.vice.com/vice-news/carpocalypse-asian-fish-are-taking-over-the-us-waterways

[Purveyor]

1. I saw a 'cooking show' early in the summer that claimed these fish are good

eating.

btw, I'm not making light of the seriousness of the problem. I live in Michigan and we are quite concerned about the potential entry into the Great Lakes.

[Scootaloo]

2. They are, actually

But there's the "status" thing. It's funny how people will avoid food that is considered "low status" - organ meats, for example. Or pork belly. or carp. They'll eat the gristly ass-end of a cow because beef is "high status" but won't touch goat because goats are "third world"