The Illinois Department of Natural Resources plans to process tons of fish and donate it to area food banks. The fish: Asian carp, several aggressive, invasive species bent on world domination. They can weigh over 50 pounds and jump 8 feet in the air, knocking over fishermen. They also destroy underwater habitat, vacuum up plankton and algae, crowd out other fish species, and have no natural enemies.
DNR pays commercial fishermen to take Asian carp out of the Illinois River. The result: Asian carp haven’t taken over Lake Michigan yet, and the state has a heap of dead fish, 150 tons in the last year.
Solution: if you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em. Plans are to turn the piscene pests into fish sticks or can them, giving the products to Midwestern food banks. Currently, an enterprising Illinois fish factory flash freezes Asian carp and sends them to China, 30 millions tons per year, but despite mild-flavored meat and some excellent American recipes, it’s been a tough sell closer to home. Right now most of the surplus catch is ground up into animal feed. By making this high-quality nutrition available to those who most need it, the Illinois state government hopes to make fishy lemonade out of finny lemons.
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Tags: Asian Carp, bighead carp, carp, environment, fish, fishing, food, food banks, hunger, Illinois, invasive species, silver carp
NotionsCapital 
July 15, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Maybe Illinois should try a food ‘pestival’ like this one:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Making-the-Best-of-Invasive-Species.html
The real ideal would be to get a fast food chain like McDonald’s to promote it on their dollar menue….