Posted on 09/22/2011 12:54:09 PM PDT by Red Badger
It is a stark reminder that the Asian carp infestation that has overwhelmed stretches of river in the Mississippi River basin and is now threatening the waters of the Great Lakes isn't going to go away anytime soon: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has hired a Louisiana chef for a made-for-media event this week to demonstrate just how good these fish can be to eat.
It's part of the Target Hunger Now campaign, a state-sponsored humanitarian effort to turn the jumbo jumping carp into "healthy, ready-to-serve meals" for the needy. The program also provides venison to the poor.
It already has provided thousands of meals to needy children and families, but this is about more than feeding the poor.
Illinois is in a protracted battle with its neighboring Great Lakes states over how to beat back the carp migrating up the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a man-made link between the carp-infested Mississippi basin and Lake Michigan.
Neighboring states want Illinois to slam shut two navigation locks as a makeshift barrier to block the advance of the fish; Illinois contends that such a closure would do great harm to the barge industry that relies on a free-flowing canal, and that it is unnecessary because an electric barrier on the canal is keeping the carp at bay.
Not everyone is so convinced the barrier is working as advertised. Water samples taken from the 70-plus miles of canals above the barrier repeatedly have tested positive for Asian carp DNA, and in the summer of 2010, a 20-pound Asian carp was pulled from a fisherman's net about seven miles south of Lake Michigan.
Illinois officials see its eat-the-carp program as another tool to keep the fish out of Lake Michigan.
According to the Illinois DNR:
"Illinois' $15 billion-dollar shipping industry has been threatened through ongoing legal actions by neighboring Great Lakes states in an attempt to close Chicago's navigation locks. Using Asian carp as a healthy food source for food banks is a major step towards eradication of the fish in Illinois waters and protects the waterway shipping industry from forced closures of our locks and dam systems."
The Illinois DNR also hopes the program will do some good for Illinois rivers.
"The Asian carp threat also continues to have a negative impact on Illinois' commercial and sport fishing industries and tourism and leads to revenue and job loss. Asian carp are voracious eaters consuming more than 40 percent of their body weight per day in plankton," states the Illinois DNR's official description of the program.
"They compete with our native fish species for food and can quickly overtake native populations of fish in our rivers, lakes and streams. The planned overfishing program of Asian carp will help protect these multibillion dollar industries in Illinois and the Great Lakes while protecting revenues and ensuring jobs. The overfishing program for Asian carp will also provide an abundance of fish available to feed our fellow Illinoisans."
The Illinois DNR will demonstrate recipes at a dinner with chef Philippe Parola on Thursday at Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory High School in Chicago.
“You’re talking about native carp, not the invasive species.”
Oh carp - I can’t get anything right! Thanks for the correction. So the asian carp - is that the “flying carp” thing when the boats go by?
I have a book that was my fathers. He was a commercial fisherman and went on to be the commercial fish law supervisor, Mi. DNR. The book by Commissioner McDonald goes into detail about the advantages of introducing carp into the Great lakes as a sport fish. The book is titled “THE 8TH REPORT TO THE COMMISSION” (Michigan).
1 lb butter (melted)
2 tbl salt
4 tbl pepper
1 ts oregano
10 minced cloves of garlic
1 lemon (juiced)
mix ingredients in bowl...
place fish in heavy brown paper bag
pour mixture over fish
fold the bag tightly and place bagged fish on cooking sheet and bake on low heat (250 degrees) for 2 hours
remove the fish carefully from bag
discard fish and serve the bag in bite-sized portions with lemon wedges... DELICIOUS!
When a motorized boat encounters these fish - the fish jump straight out of the water by the hundreds - high leaps right into the boat sometimes... Aerial nets could catch these fish without much risk of catching native species. And - How about the cat food industry... Friskies is 50 cents a can at Walmart. Cheap tuna meant for humans is only 58 cents on sales at WallyMart... I’ll buy Chinese carp cat food - especially if it is cheaper than the other fishy kind..
Carpe carp! Seize the fish!
From some videos showing these damn things jumping in the rivers as a boat travels down it, I’m thinking of starting up a shotgun fishing charter boat service..........
Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia.
They have been introduced to various locations around the world, though with mixed results. In Lake Erie, the carp is also classified as a Junk Fish as well as damaging naturalized exotic species but with sporting qualities.
Exactly — like ripe fruit.
...and tonight’s Iron Chef secret ingredient is...
Exactly Perfect Solution.
That’s funny.
Thanks for the laugh.
I have one dog who cannot quit eating the ‘processed hay’ my horses produce.
In fact, I would go so far as to predict that they will actually benefit the abundance of our existing game fish (trout, salmon, bass, walley, musky) and quite possibly take the pressure off the lesser game fish such as perch where there certainly seems to be a decline here in Lake St. Clair.........
I remember years ago when the zebra mussels invaded Lake St. Clair and the doom and gloom that accompanied them. While they took off astronomically and caused an initial problem, nature took over and they died down to a sustainable level and actually help clean the lake. The lake is now the cleanest it has ever been due to the zebra mussels filtering out the debris.........as well as being a food source for fish such as our perch.
If these Asian carp do make it into our great lakes system, I have full confidence that our ecosystem will be able to handle whatever problem they may attempt to make.............Nature can handle its own without assistance from us.
Asian Carp are democrats???
Carp are carp and you would be surprised at how much they are fished by the black community here in the Detroit area.........
dump enough Tabasco
And don't use my name in vain without pinging me............,..
Illinois should have invited their favorite son in the White House to come show them how to make the carp sandwiches he’s been dishing out to everyone for over two years now.
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