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Home > Current News > 2009

News: 2009

New Video Demonstrates the Tastier Side of Invasive Species
Posted: 12/22/09

They’re ugly. They’re gluttons. They’re invaders that don’t belong here. They might even smack you in the face if given the chance.

They’re Asian carp, and Glenn Thomas, the Marine Extension leader with Louisiana Sea Grant at LSU, and Duane Chapman, a research fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Columbia, Mo., would like to teach people how to clean and cook two types of them.

Members of the genus Hypophthalmichthys, bighead carp (H. nobilis) and silver carp (H. molitrix) were deliberately introduced to the United States in the 1970s to help manage aquaculture ponds and wastewater lagoons. They quickly escaped into the wild where their populations have grown exponentially in the Mississippi River basin. Native to large rivers and associated floodplains in eastern Asia, the carp were first observed in Louisiana waters in the 1980s. These filter feeders are prolific breeders and may pose a threat to native fish like bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) and the paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) by competing for food and habitat.

Silver carp commonly exceed 20 pounds, and bighead carp often weigh more than 40 pounds. Record catches of both species have approached 100 pounds, Thomas said. These fish have an odd appearance, with small, downward-facing eyes; a stout body; and protruding lower jaw. However, the silver carp’s most unusual and dangerous characteristic is behavioral – when startled by the sound of a boat motor, the fish attempt to flee danger by jumping high out of the water. This defense mechanism results in frequent strikes to vessels and people and has caused boating accidents, black eyes, bruises and more severe injuries.

What can be done about this menace whose range in the United States continues to grow?

Dinner, anyone?

“Duane (Chapman) worked with the fish extensively in the United States and suggested their use as table fare but was having trouble developing a teaching tool on how to clean them,” Thomas explained. “Asian carps have excellent flesh but a very unusual bone structure. Duane developed some unique cleaning methods that will put them on the table. We need to develop a market for these things because the breeding populations are already established. The best thing we can do is to utilize them as fully as possible.”

Thomas and Chapman teamed up recently to record an instructional video that is part cooking show and part fish and game report. The film describes the fish’s biology and anatomy and provides step-by-step coaching on the proper way to clean them. Chapman demonstrates three cooking methods – blackened fillets; grilled fillets; and a fried, bone-in preparation he calls “flying carp wings.”

Silver and bighead carp flesh is moist, white, flaky and mild – provided it is properly handled – and larger carp yield generous, meaty fillets. There is one catch to catching this delicious fish. They are herbivores and unlikely to respond to traditional angling. Chapman said they rarely take baits that would be placed on the end of a fishing line.

“You can go bowfishing or wait for them to jump in the boat,” he said. “Commercial fishermen catch them in hoop and gill nets in Illinois.”

No matter how they are captured, Chapman emphasizes the importance of gutting and icing immediately, or the fish will quickly spoil.

The instructional video was filmed and produced by the LSU AgCenter. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is providing funding for reproduction and distribution. The 27-minute video will be available on DVD from Louisiana Sea Grant in the spring, but can be viewed online, now.

“Flying Fish, Great Dish” appears in three segments on YouTube:

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