Will Chinese Eat ‘Wild Mississippi River Fish’?
I suppose this story rightly falls into the category of “that’s something you don’t see every day.”
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed an agreement with China to export as much as 30 million pounds of Asian carp a year from the Illinois River, a move aimed at reducing the population of the invasive species downstate.
Flanked by state lawmakers and business leaders from Illinois and China, Quinn said of the Asian carp crisis, “if you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em.”
Cute and inventive. When life gives you lemons, sell ‘em to the Chinese. Note that for the folks in Illinois, this is not just another trade issue. This is a clever response to an invasion:
Biologists fear the voracious fish that can grow to 100 pounds will destroy the Great Lakes by starving out native species.
A live [19 pound] carp was recently found six miles from Lake Michigan, leading to renewed calls to permanently block any connections between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds.
Even Midwestern Fish Are Obese
I’ve always found carp to be ugly motherfuckers, and the thought of a large number of 100 pound bastards swimming around in local rivers is slightly unnerving. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already built an “Electric Barrier System” designed to keep fish away from Lake Michigan, but I guess the carp will eventually overwhelm that barrier. Perhaps the Asian fish simply have better engineering and math skills than the Americans charged with stopping them.
Additionally, this is a potential ‘foreign policy’ problem for the state of Illinois, ‘foreign’ in the sense of other American states. When invasive species move around from one state to another, forcing governments to spend money cleaning up the problem, folks like to point fingers at one another. Here’s how one Chicago blogger describes the crisis:
Now I realize the seriousness of this issue. The Asian carp is a species not native to this part of the world, and its presence in the Great Lakes would be devastating to the species that are native to Lake Michigan and its counterpart lakes.
I also realize that this is a species that is determined to spread. After all, it is one that was introduced in the United States into the Mississippi River near Mississippi, and has managed to swim upstream all the way across our country to the point where that river meets up with the Illinois River.
Ouch. I wish them luck. Hopefully this plan will defray some carp costs, bring in some jobs and earn someone a bit of profit. The factory that will process the carp, Big River Fisheries, is undergoing a USD 2 million upgrade for this project, and if all goes well, the plant (with 180 additional jobs) could ship from 30 to 50 million pounds of carp to Asia within a couple years.
We’ll have to see if Illinois carp catch on over here in China. I assume that the local partner, Beijing Zhuochen Animal Husbandry Company, will be responsible for the PRC advertising campaign (although I’m sure Big River will foot the bill for a lot of the costs), and that’s something I’m eagerly anticipating.
Here’s a most entertaining preview:
“We believe the people of China who like to eat Asian carp will find this is the best anywhere on Earth,” Quinn said.
Indeed, the plan is to market Asian carp caught in Illinois as wild grown fish to upscale restaurants in China, [Ross] Harano [head of international sales for Big River] said. That’s the only way to offset the added costs of catching the fish locally and shipping it overseas.
“Just like people pay a premium for Angus beef, we believe people will pay a premium for this,” Harano said. “We’re marketing it as ‘Wild Mississippi River Fish.’ It’s all in how you market it over there.”
Agreed. Marketing these ugly bastards as “Chicago Bottom Feeders” probably wouldn’t get the job done. I’m not yet sold on the name ‘Wild Mississippi River Fish,” but if it does catch on, perhaps Illinois can branch out into sales of other exotic marine delicacies, such as River Crab or Stretch-Tail Whale.
Of course Chinese will buy this, chinese people put them there long time ago and knowing western people don’t know how to eat them and will eventually give them back to China. Either way bottom feeder or not diet is a matter of habit. You eating eggs drinking wine with cheese or whatever everyday, but you don’t think of eating un-fertilised ovulation leftover from the ovary over the oviduct of a hen, or drinking some plant’s reproductive organ under long term fermentation with a bunch of fungi. As long as it actually taste good right … have you try it?
Anyway if you are really going to market that as ‘Wild Mississippi River Fish” I think you should reconsider, because it sound horrible in English as even worst in Chinese. “Dargon Scale”, “King of River Miss”, “10Thoursand years old long living Mississippi wild” may sound more attractive to the Chinese to be honest.
I just threw away my eggs.
I was hoping you can start eating fish…
It’s a shame. I used to love eating fish. I’ll have to stick with tofu and vegetables now and hope that the insecticides and preservatives don’t kill me.
Just don’t eat out, you will be fine
There are even sharks in Lake Michigan: http://is.gd/drWnw Thought it important everyone know this.
Those would sell even better over here. Well, parts of ‘em anyway.
I wonder why Americans won’t eat these carps…
First the picture you post is a European carp not Asian…for what that’s worth. Secondly catfish get just as big and just as ugly. I have a picture of a 33″ largemouth i caught this year and even though it’s clearly a largemouth it’s not nearly as photgenic as a typical 5-6 lber. It’s all in what your conditioned to want to see. Most people are surprised to find that a large percentage of fish sticks or patties (anywhere the meat is pulverized) is euopean carp. The pulverizing is to tenderize the small bones that chase most people away from carp. But people who really like fresh fish don’t steer away from bluegills or crappie which also have tiny needle like bones. Trust me one of those little needles into the roof of your mouth and a hsopital ride is no fun…been there. It’s all about how careful one is and the preperation. As too ugle…have you ever seen a 30# flathead? Most people react that they look prehistoric…and yet I have a fondness that I cannot explain.:)
Ha ha, I’m not surprised. I appreciate the info from an obvious expert. Well, I guess that’s what I get for indiscriminately using Google Images via keyword search — ‘Asian carp’. Apparently the person who posted that pic got it wrong too.
Most folks do not want to see what their food looks like before it gets processed. Let’s face it, your average hog is kinda ugly, but bacon is delicious. Go figure. I am sensitive about the small bones, though. Fish in China is mostly cooked whole, so you have to be very careful when you eat it. I grew up on Pacific Ocean fish fillets, big ass steaks ready for the BBQ with no bones to worry about. I admit that I am spoiled.
BTW: Catfish are definitely ugly bastards, too.
The problem is absolutely the bones. According to American haute cuisine chefs, the meat from this fish is absolutely decent; it compares adequately to top-end fishes, but is just not worth the cost. While the fish itself is extremely cheap, they lose 70% of the fish’s mass in processing so the cost easily becomes extreme.
It would be great if good ol’ fashioned American technology could come to the rescue and come up with a method of extracting the fillets, the inedible organs, then processing the remainder into fish-meal. It would be a great way to get rid of the carp problem and provide Americans with a delicious and cheap food source, but I don’t believe anyone is working on such a machine.
We need the fishy equivalent of Eli Whitney!