Missouri Master Naturalists- Springfield Plateau Chapter

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Invasive Eating


This is the time of year that Barb is in the full invasive species attack mode.  One way we destroy garlic mustard is trying to eat it to death.  In the current issue of Ozark Waters Newsletter, David Casaletto suggests using the same approach on another invasive species.

Asian Carp are a major major problem in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers as well as other watersheds.  David recently attended a meeting where he encountered a gastronomic attack on the species.
"Mark Morgan an associate professor in the Missouri University School of Natural Resources is working on a solution to the invasive Asian Silver Carp: convince people to eat them! And he was going to hand out samples of Asian Carp chili for everyone to try."
One taste test found that people preferred the carp over catfish!  If this became commercially viable, it might be a way of making lemonade out of this environmental lemon.  We couldn't ever eliminate the species but it might be another incentive to decrease the population.  That is unless some business tried to get laws protecting them for the food industry.

A lot more interesting details are in the Ozark Waters Newsletter.