Answer for Invasive Species: Put It on a Plate and Eat It

[groovedaddy]

With its dark red and black stripes, spotted fins and long venomous black spikes, the lionfish seems better suited for horror films than consumption. But lionfish fritters and filets may be on American tables soon.

An invasive species, the lionfish is devastating reef fish populations along the Florida coast and into the Caribbean. Now, an increasing number of environmentalists, consumer groups and scientists are seriously testing a novel solution to control it and other aquatic invasive species — one that would also takes pressure off depleted ocean fish stocks: they want Americans to step up to their plates and start eating invasive critters in large numbers.

“Humans are the most ubiquitous predators on earth,” said Philip Kramer, director of the Caribbean program for the Nature Conservancy. “Instead of eating something like shark fin soup, why not eat a species that is causing harm, and with your meal make a positive contribution?”

Invasive species have become a vexing problem in the United States, with population explosions of Asian carp clogging the Mississippi River and European green crabs mobbing the coasts. With few natural predators in North America, such fast-breeding species have thrived in American waters, eating native creatures and out-competing them for food and habitats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/science/earth/10fish.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

[caraher]

1. The very first question will be

how do they taste?

Are asian carp delicious?

I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense to try to apply our proclivity for overfishing to some laudable purpose...

[FBaggins]

2. Yep... but we can always feed 'em to something that DOES taste good.

Mince them up and dry them and then feed them to farmed fish (or pigs or whatever)?

[kestrel91316]

11. I betcha Asian carp makes awesome gefilte fish.

[MineralMan]

3. Tough to do, really.

For example, the European Carp was introduced into Minnesota by the government, to provide a new food source for all the European immigrants who had come here. That happened back in the 19th century. It didn't work. They wanted to eat the native freshwater fish, which tasted better, had fewer bones, and so on. Carp was poor people's food. In Minnesota, you could catch sturgeon (food of the rich), walleye, and many other species. So, inevitably, the carp escaped into the lakes and rivers of Minnesota, where they live happy productive lives, just eating and making more carp. I fish for them, because they're a great fish to catch. I release them after I catch them, because I don't much like carp as a food fish. I've eaten it, and would do so again, if I needed to, but I don't much like it.

So, we have this invasive species living virtually everywhere in Minnesota, reaching weights over 25 lb. on a regular basis. You can fish for them, and they're wicked good fun to catch. British tourists who are anglers marvel at our carp resource, and love to fish for them. I've given a couple of British anglers the opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime, right in downtown Saint Paul, fishing the Mississipi. They were outrageously happy. Now, they release carp to, because in the UK, they're a prize game fish. They don't eat them, either. Not many people enjoy carp as a food fish.

So, the solution of eating them rarely works out. Now we have the asian carp moving in. They'd be wonderful game fish, but you can't entice them to take a bait, because they're plankton eaters. You can net them, but Americans don't like carp as a food fish. They eat them in Asia, but they have them there, too, and farm them, so there's no economic reason to catch them here and ship them there. Same situation all over again as with the European carp. So, they'll settle in and eat and make more carp, just like their relatives

Invasive species are always a problem. Eating them rarely works, because people eat what they know.

A final example. There's a great fish in Minnesota, called the freshwater drum. It's a native species. They grow to over 30 lb. in size. They're a great angling fish, biting freely on just about any bait, and will outfight any other fish in our waters, pound for pound, pretty much. Best of all, they're easy to filet, and have firm, white flesh in boneless filets that tastes as good or better as the favorite freshwater fish in Minnesota, the walleye. Sounds ideal, right? Wrong. Anglers in Minnesota hate freshwater drum. They consider them trash fish and often kill them after catching them and throw them back in the water, wasting this great eating fish. Why? Because they don't know. Because they're fishing for something else. Because eating freshwater drum is unfamiliar to them. So, even a native fish that is in great supply goes unutilized.

I eat freshwater drum. In fact it's the only fish I keep from Minnesota waters. I filet them, cook them, and serve them to everyone I can. They think they're walleye, until I tell them. They're actually better than walleye, with firmer flesh and a nice flaky feel, more like an ocean fish. I'm an ambassador for eating freshwater drum. It doesn't work. Once they find out that the delicious fish they're eating is freshwater drum, most people stop eating. Just unbelievable. I've learned to not tell people until they've eaten their fill of the fish. Otherwise they cut their meal short.

So, getting people to eat invasive species just isn't going to happen.

[xfundy]

4. Fish make great fertilizer for crops.

Many years ago, "Early Americans" noticed that Indigenous Americans would plant seeds for food with dead fish. The idea worked so well, the ocean was overfished for this kind of fish (the name escapes me, it's surely googable).

A part of 'Murrican history usually overlooked. (Like much of it.)

[NickB79]

5. How do you fish for lionfish without catching other species?

I'm curious if they're caught with nets or on a line? I'd be concerned about excess by-catch in the process of removing the invasives.

[MineralMan]

6. Spearfishing by divers, for the most part.

It's a novelty thing, really.

[NickB79]

7. I don't see that making a noticeable dent in their numbers then. nt

[MineralMan]

8. Makes good youtube videos, though.

There are several on lionfish, even showing the technique for preparing this dangerous fish for the table. Those spines are a real hazard. So, tools are required, and the process is a PITA. I don't see this as a viable way to deal with this invasive species.

Fileting a Lionfish Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx3tf71TdfE

[XemaSab]

9. Cat:

It's what's for dinner. :9

[robinlynne]

10. makes sense to me!