The Worst Fish in America: Asian Carpocalpyse

[snooper2]

Asian carp — a slimy, ugly, and often gargantuan species of invasive fish— have taken over many waterways in the United States. First introduced in the US in the 1960's to control weeds and parasites at aquatic farms in Arkansas, the bottom feeders eventually escaped and made their way through the Mississippi River system, eating almost everything in their path and severely damaging ecosystems across the Midwest. Today, government officials are concerned that the fish will invade the Great Lakes, destroy the ecosystem, wreak havoc on the area's multibillion dollar fishing industry, and spread to almost every major waterway in the Northeast.

VICE News traveled across Illinois to see how Americans are dealing with the Asian carp invasion, visiting a Redneck fishing tournament where the sole mission is to catch as many carp as possible, touring a processing plant trying to monetize the fish, and heading to Chicago, where we learned that Asian Carp are a symptom of a much larger issue.


VICE

[TwilightGardener]

1. It's a shame they can't be enticed to eat exclusively zebra/quagga mussels.

Invasive species showdown!

[Raine1967]

18. I would LOVE that.

I guess there are no redneck Zebra Mussels killing contests in the great lakes.

[Recursion]

35. Easy! When winter comes, the gorillas simply freeze to death! (nt)

[Dreamer Tatum]

2. So. Many. Great. Jokes. I. Cannot. Make.

What a shame.

[KamaAina]

3. Could they be made into cat food?

They're obviously not gonna cut it as people food, although I'm sure the repukes would propose adding them to the school lunch program.

[Kaleva]

5. In the fish's native range, it is a popular food for humans

"Asian carp have been a popular food fish in Asia for thousands of years."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carp

[KamaAina]

20. They must have some recipes for it

some way to take the smell out.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Seriously. One way to deal with invasive species is to eat them.

Doesnt really work for stink bugs, though.

[snooper2]

7. Watch the video

They are a "bone in" fish and most Americans are used to that, or like that-

[Xyzse]

4. I thought those are edible...

Hmmm, it is not poisonous so it should be somewhat edible.

I am sure I can make something out of it.

[Aerows]

12. I'm pretty sure

if you batter and fry them, like they are doing to the lionfish of the coast of Florida, they would be just as delicious as everything else that is hauled out, made crispy and enjoyed by millions

[pinboy3niner]

16. As long as you don't use CORN FLAKE breading, lol

[Aerows]

19. OH GOD!

Don't GO THERE!

We don't need the great fish debate!

[LiberalEsto]

48. Now I'm wondering whether these carp can breast-feed

and whether they like Olive Garden.

[Xyzse]

17. I'm a big fan of steaming fish.

I bet I could steam that thing to perfection.

[markpkessinger]

21. Many years ago . . .

. . . a friend's fiance, who is Chinese and who was then an opera student at Juilliard, took a group of friends, including me, to a hole-in-the-wall of a restaurant on a side street in NYC's Chinatown. He did all the ordering for the group, and one of the things he ordered was flounder steamed with ginger. It was the first time I'd had steamed fish of any kind, and it was absolutely delicious. I tried going to the restaurant another time, without my Chinese friend, and searched in vain on the English menu for that dish, as well as some others my friend had ordered, but they were nowhere to be found on the menu provided to English-speaking customers!

[Xyzse]

25. Just ask for steamed fish.

Actually it is very easy to do.
It is one of the simplest recipes too.

A Chinese woman told me you could even do it through a microwave.
I don't believe her though.
She said, put fresh fish on plate
Score three cuts on the side of the fish on one side
Add a little bit of soy sauce
Add a little bit of sesame oil
Add Ginger
Salt and pepper
Parsley

If you want, add chili peppers.

Thing is, I do the same thing with the same ingredients, and just place it on my steamer.
The water from the steam is what creates the sauce.

Good luck!

[BrotherIvan]

32. A lot of the hole in the wall places in NYC are like that--AMAZING

I went with a friend who ordered off the menu and a huge tableful of miraculous dishes arrived. But rather off-putting was when the waiter brought over a bucket with a jumping, gasping, live fish in it. I almost knocked over my chair, screaming. But my friend gave me a death look that kept me silent and explained later that it was customary to show the fish live to assure freshness.

I felt guilty when that fish arrived at our table, steamed, with whisps of ginger and a light soy sauce. But I pushed down the guilt when I tasted the cloud-like fish that made the music of the spheres in my mouth.

I was never able to replicate the experience without Chinese-speaking friends taking me to various places. My favorite dish turned out to be giant shrimp, baked in their shells atop rock salt and sprinkled with a chili & salt flourish. That method of cooking made the skins taste deep fried and the shrimp like juicy, velvet orgasmic fantasy food.

Oh god, I wish I could go back there right now...

[Recursion]

36. They're popular here in India. "Rohu" IIRC. They're better in curry than as tikka.

But river fish in general are more popular in India than in the US. The turmeric, chili, and coconut milk seem to take the smell away.

[Xyzse]

40. Sounds delicious.

[B2G]

6. Don't worry. These guys are on it.

[NCTraveler]

8. The phrase "Stunts Performed by Trained Professionals"

has just hit an all time low.

[BrotherIvan]

34. I'm ashamed to admit I watched the whole thing

[B2G]

37. They have more on Youtube

Hilarious.

[Zorra]

9. Couldn't they be harvested and used for as fish for making fertilizer? nt

[Hestia]

23. Exactly my thought - grind them up and ship as fertilizer.

Why don't they use bigger nets? Instead of sucking up all the salmon and tuna from the oceans, can they not do the same once or twice year in the rivers? Yes, it would suck up native fish - what's left of them. Redneck Roundups aren't going to make that big of a difference. Actual commercial fisherman would.

[Submariner]

27. Baked in a butter sauce with basil, salt & pepper

it is an okay plump baked fillet.

It could be harvested cheap, made into fish sticks or blocks like McDonald's fish sammich, and feed either the country's prison population or the republican House & Senate cafeteria.

[B Calm]

39. Fish is great fertilizer on the garden. I have a small farm pond and

when I find a dead fish I normally put them on my compost pile and bury them with cow manure. The cow manure keeps the wild critters from digging the fish out and dragging it out in the yard. I use to bury the fish in the garden, but the critters would just dig them up.

I have 3 sterile Asian carp in my pond and they do a great job keeping the aquatic weeds out. They look like small submarines swimming around the pond. I'm guessing they are over 30 pounds each.

[drm604]

10. Carpocalpyse?

Is that a latin name for the fish or is it a misspelled play on the word apocalypse? I think it should be "carpocalypse".

[Kalidurga]

11. My first thought what do they taste like?

We have a real problem with affordable food in this country. These could be a cheaper alternative to say a fish like salmon and they appear to be very plentiful and easy to catch for now.

[Aerows]

14. That's my thought, too

Heck, fry them and I'm sure they taste as good as anything else. Can't be any worse than a fish stick.

[Zorra]

43. Carp are edible, but I think they taste disgusting and wouldn't eat one unless

I was starving.

[B Calm]

13. We have them here in the Wabash river. I use to take my boat

and go for boat rides up to Lafayette, Indiana. Too dangerous now days!

[Aerows]

15. Here's a good article

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131218/FOOD/312189986

[RebelOne]

26. I was a copy editor for 30 state outdoors magazines,

and over the years, we had done numerous articles on those Asian carp in all the states affected by them.

[Aerows]

31. Looks like

it could be tasty eating.

What's your take on it?

[HereSince1628]

22. Grass carp taste OK. Eating them to non-threatening levels would be Ok

Of course, there is a pretty good chance that their fry will become the forage for Snakeheads, visions of whose toothy jaws have caused me to lose some sleep.

[Brigid]

24. That guy on "How the States Got Their Shapes" went out on the Mississippi to check them out.

He said he did not believe the stories he had heard about them. Almost as soon as the motorboat was in motion, the carp started leaping (apparently they hate the noise and the vibrations). I think he got hit by a few too. It was pretty funny.

[Jenoch]

28. It seems most DUers posting on this thread

missed the point of what the problem is. These Asian Carp are voracious eaters and will push out all the native species. The University of Minnesota is putting up an electronic fish barrier somewhere on the Mississippi to at lewst keep them out of the upper reaches of the river. The barrier is electronic that only affects the Asian Carp.

By the way, the Minnesota legislature passed a law saying that in all government references to this species and the silver carp must be referenced as 'invasive carp' and not Asian Carp.

[alarimer]

29. That's ridiculous; they are native to Asia.

It is an accurate way of referring to them. I really doubt anyone is really offended by that.

[Jenoch]

30. I thought it silly too.

[lonestarnot]

38. How does the electronic barrier affect only Asian Carp invaders?

[B Calm]

44. It probably doesn't. Hopefully they'll restock native fish

after they kill them all (if they ever figure out how to do it).

[Jenoch]

45. Here's a link.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin/2014/05/minnesota-researchers-utilize-sound-barriers-blast-asian-carp-down-river

[Puglover]

41. I agree the smart thing to do is monetize them.

Fish Emulsion is 7.95 a bottle. Just sayin.

We managed to hunt the Passenger Pigeon to extinction in 33 years. And that was a century ago.

[FSogol]

42. Solution: Change their name to Artisanal Carp and set the price at $27 per pound.

Add a few signs at Harris Teeters and Wholefoods that they are all out of Artisanal Carp.

[VScott]

46. Can't call them that

Do Asian carp need a new name?

Is the name "Asian carp" racist?

Yesterday, Minnesota's Senate Environment and Energy Committee unanimously voted to ban the term "Asian carp." Aaron Rupar reports for CityPages that the bill will now advance to the state's Senate floor for a vote.

Supporters of the bill say that referring to invasive carp species as "Asian" is racist and offensive. "The response to this species has been and we believe will continue to be overwhelmingly negative, and thus we feel reflects very negatively on our community of Asian Americans," Sia Her, executive director of the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, said during testimony.

The proposed bill states that the commissioner of natural resources "shall use the term 'invasive carp' or refer to the specific species in any proposed laws, rules, or official documents when referring to carp species that are not naturalized to the waters of this state."

http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/do-asian-carp-need-new-name.html

[snooper2]

47. That is one of the dumbest things I've read this year