HOUSTON (AP) — It seems like a simple proposition:
American lakes, rivers and offshore waters are filling up with
destructive fish and crustaceans originally from other parts of the
world, many of them potential sources of food.
So why not control these invasive populations by getting people to eat them?
The
idea has gained momentum recently from the lionfish, which invaded the
Gulf of Mexico but was successfully marketed to restaurants and today
appears to be in decline.
But businesses and scientists have
struggled to repeat this apparent triumph with other species. Some, such
as Asian carp, are not appetizing to Americans. Others, like feral
hogs, reproduce too quickly to make a dent. And then there’s the
question of whether turning them into sought-after cuisine undermines
the larger goal of eliminating them.
"Eating invasive species is
not a silver bullet," said Laura Huffman, the Nature Conservancy’s
director in Texas. But it can still be "a way to get people engaged in
the topic and in the solution."
The lionfish, a striped saltwater
species with a flowing mane of venomous spines, is native to the
Indo-Pacific Ocean and was first spotted in parts of the Gulf and off
the East Coast a little more than 10 years ago. The skilled predators
damage reefs and devour native fish, and they are eaten only by sharks —
or larger lionfish.
People soon learned that beneath the
lionfish’s spiky skin lies a buttery, flaky meat that is perfect for
ceviche, taco filler or as an alternative to lobster. After a few years
of intense fishing and brisk fillet sales, the population is dropping.
But similar efforts targeting feral hogs, Asian carp and the Himalayan blackberry have been far less
successful.
Damage
from invasive species extends beyond the environment. A Cornell
University study concluded that they caused more than $120 billion in
economic harm annually. Feral hogs cost Texas alone about $52 million in
agricultural damage every year, according to a study by Texas A&M
University.
Asian carp were introduced to the United States about
30 years ago. Now they have infested dozens of waterways, including the
Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers is weighing several options to
try to keep the voracious eaters out of the Great Lakes, where they
could threaten other marine life and the fishing industry.
In
China, the carp are a delicacy and even threatened in the Yangtze River.
But they have attracted little interest among U.S. consumers, and the
few Americans who make a living on carp export most of their catch.
"The
fish are good eating if they’re healthy, which they’re not always,"
said Duane Chapman, a research fish biologist with the U.S. Geological
Survey in Columbia, Missouri, noting this is an issue in the Missouri
River. "Here the fish are pretty much not edible because they’re so
skinny."
In Chicago, a group started to feed the fish to the
homeless, an attempt to deal with hunger and help combat the invasive
fish problem. A southern Illinois company had hoped to start packaging
frozen Asian carp. And Kentucky organized a commercial fishing
tournament to encourage anglers to go after them.
But none of those efforts was enough to stir demand for the creatures.
Another obstacle is concern that a successful carp industry could derail the original goal of getting rid
of the fish.
"We’d all be better off in terms of economics if we could sell our native fish," Chapman said.

The
lionfish and the giant tiger prawn, a crustacean with a massive
appetite that can grow to be a foot long, proved to be more palatable,
Chapman said.
The tiger prawn has been found in the northern Gulf
of Mexico, where scientists fear it could harm the multimillion-dollar
crab, shrimp and oyster markets.
Like the lionfish, this prawn has been successfully turned into gourmet food, because it is similar to
shrimp, Huffman said.
Similar
practicalities can affect invasive plants. The Himalayan blackberry is
known for crowding out other shrubs and reducing the size of pastures.
Although it is delicious, it’s also thorny and requires time-consuming
hand picking that makes large-scale harvesting difficult.
Feral hogs can also be tasty, but they reproduce so quickly that hunting doesn’t make a dent in the
population.
Jean-Philippe
Gaston, chef at Haven and Cove Restaurant in Houston, started serving
lionfish because he wanted to help reduce its population in the Gulf.
Now the taste alone keeps it on the menu.
"It’s light and airy and
fluffy," said Gaston, who especially likes to use lionfish in ceviche
and other raw-fish dishes because it blends well with spices and
marinades. "People are scared of fishy fish. This one in particular is
very mild, very easy going on the palette."
But lionfish are hard
to catch, and the dwindling population means Gaston and other
restaurateurs have not been able to get any for weeks.
For now,
the fish are individually speared and can be sold for about $16 a pound,
said David Johnson, founder and owner of Traditional Fisheries, one of
the few U.S. lionfish suppliers. Yet Johnson said he can’t keep up with
demand, especially since many Mexican restaurants replace the crustacean
with lionfish during lobster’s offseason.
In fact, an event at
the Texas State Aquarium had to be cancelled last month when organizers
couldn’t find enough lionfish for the 100-person dinner.
So
Johnson, who lives in Wayzata, Minnesota, is designing a "smart trap"
that would allow fishermen to catch lionfish en masse without netting
other species. He hopes the traps will be in use by year’s end.
"Locally,
we’ve proven that it does work," Johnson said of the effort to turn
lionfish into a delectable dish. "In Cozumel, for example, we’re having
trouble finding lionfish because they’ve fished so many."
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