Asian Carp, rebranded as Silverfin, is a fish everyone can learn to love including Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti. She joined Louisiana Chef Philippe Parola and other partners from Illinois and Louisiana at a January luncheon in Champaign to showcase and encourage the human consumption of Asian Carp as a healthy food source in America. Photo: Ewell Smith/Gulf Seafood Foundation
GULF SEAFOOD FOUNDATION
By Ewell Smith, Gulf Seafood Foundation Board Member
From the Gulf to the Great Lakes, from Denver to Knoxville, Bighead and Asian Silver carp have overtaken manmade lakes and large sections of rivers threatening the ecosystem and the multi-million dollar recreational and commercial fishing industry.
These two carps are invasive species introduced into fish farm ponds in the central Midwest in the 1970’s to clean murky pond water. Flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers caused ponds to overflow, allowing the carp to escape into rivers and reproduce in the wild.
llinois River Asian Silver carp jump out of the water after being disturbed by sounds of watercraft. The invasive species, which can reach four-feet in length and weigh up to 100 pounds, wreak havoc on native fish by gobbling up plankton. Photo: Illinois River Biological Station/ Nerissa Michaels
Eight years ago, Louisiana Chef Philippe Parola approached the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board expressing his concern for native species of fish in Louisiana and the Gulf threatened by the rapidly growing numbers of Asian carp, a fish with few predators to population growth. A single female can produce up to one million eggs per year. If left unchecked the impact could severely damage recreational fishing, tourism, and the watersports industry up and down the Mississippi.
The threat of the possibility of the invasive carp’s ability to thrive in the brackish estuaries forming Louisiana’s coastline raised the fear the fish could decimate the state’s coastal fishing industry. Shrimp, oyster, blue crab and other finfish all rely on those plankton-rich waters during some point in their life cycle, but if Asian carp establish a population, they could damage the already fragile ecosystem.
Chef Parola serves a Silverfin dish to a Tulane University student. The school is working the with the two-state partnership to regularly serve the fish to students. The Louisiana Seafood exchange is the first distributor of the fish in Louisiana. Photo: Ewell Smith/Gulf Seafood Foundation
“In our state, these fish grow 30 to 50 pounds on average,” said the Chef. “They can eat their weight in plankton in a day. After invading an area they annihilate the vital plant food local indigenous seafood relies upon.”
To date the federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building electrical fence and has tried to poison the fish in an attempt to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes and rivers.
To ensure the survival of native species, Chef Parola decide to find a solution for the rapidly growing problem. If you can’t beat them, eat them.
The flesh of Asian carp is light, mild and flaky, akin to delicate crabmeat. The problem is the fish suffers from a serious image problem: people confuse Asian carp with the common bottom-feeding carp that has a stronger, fishier flavor.
Chef Parola explains the importance of Silverfin to Eric Bucker (middle) Sysco’s Senior Director of Seafood and Kevin Easter, Seafood Product Manager, at the company’s headquarters in Houston. Photo: Ewell Smith/Gulf Seafood Foundation
As Chef Paul Prudhomme did in the 1980’s with the then unwanted Red fish by serving it blackened, to overcome the negative associations Chef Parola is marketing Asian Carp for consumption as Silverfin.
“Asian carp has incredibly complex bone structure, which makes it very difficult to clean. People mistakenly think it is a ‘trash fish’, but it is not,” said the Chef. “One thing we know how to do in Louisiana, and to do extremely well, is cook.”
Parola mission is not only to preach the delicious virtues of Silverfin, but also to pave the way for creating a sustainable fish and food processing plant that can support a commercial Asian carp fishing industry. To complete the Chef’s vision, a change in fishery regulations to remove catch limits is needed.
The Chef has traveled the Mississippi River, from Louisiana to Illinois, the past 8 years meeting with environmentalist, government officials, fishermen, media and investors. “By bringing Silverfin to market we can help balance the consumption of plankton by the fish making it possible for our native species to co-exist,” he explained.
Failing to have the current capacity to process the fish in the U.S., the bone-riddled fish is currently being sent to Vietnam to have bones removed by hand. The cleaned fish is then returned to the U.S. to be sold to restaurants, educational institutions and grocery outlets.
“Asian carp will be a very profitable for the commercial fishermen at current prices,” said Louisiana fisherman Richard Durrett while fishing on the Atchafalaya River’s control structures where water is diverted from the Mississippi River. Photo: Richard Durrett
“Asian carp will be a very profitable for the commercial fishermen at current prices,” said Louisiana fisherman Richard Durrett who has been working closely with the Chef in bringing the fish to market. “The Atchafalaya and Mississippi River is overflowing with the fish. In four hours I can easily catch more than 47,000 lbs.”
Chef Parola’s untiring efforts are starting to bear fruit. In Illinois, The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is set to review details for two possible sites for Silverfin processing plants that would process 50,000 to 100,000 pounds of fish per day.
In the Bayou State, both Governor John Bell Edwards and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, along with the Secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries, Jack Montoucet, recognize the threat of the invasive fish and support Parola’s efforts. In addition, Sodexo, a company providing catering and facilities management to 100 million consumers daily in 56 countries, has expressed interest in distributing the fish nationwide.
Representatives from Illinois, ground zero for this issue with more than 15,500 Silverfin per river mile, and Louisiana met at a January luncheon in Champaign, IL to kick off the “Cant Beat Em’ Eat Em” campaign, which showcased the fish and encouraged its consumption as a healthy food source. This first-of-its-kind project is an alliance of two States, as well as the University of Illinois, which serves as a liaison.
Representatives from Illinois and Louisiana met at a January luncheon in Champaign to kick off the “Cant Beat Em’ Eat Em” campaign, which showcased the fish and encouraged its consumption as a healthy food source. Photo: University of Illinois
According the Chef the “Cant Beat Em’ Eat Em” campaign can have a positive ecological and economic impact for both states.
“We are very proud of the hard work our partners have done to educate the public about the delicious and healthy consumption of Asian Carp and to help fishermen to sell it and become financially viable and increase its demand,” said Illinois Lt. Governor Sanguinetti. “This effort will potentially help grow our fishery industry and create jobs while at the same time reduce the population of invasive Asian Carp and help prevent further spread.”
In a statement Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, whose office oversees the Louisiana Seafood Board, said, “We are excited to partner with the University of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Chef Philippe Parola in finding a workable and sustainable solution to the growing threat of the invasive Asian Carp. This is a coordinated effort to create a whole new fishing industry to reduce the threat Asian carp poses to our own vital fishing industry and ecosystem.”
Chef Phillippe Parola educates Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser on the difficulties of de-boning the Asian Carp. Bringing the great tasting fish to market as Silverfin can be a win-win for everyone. Photo: Ewell Smith/Gulf Seafood Foundation
Asian Carp can be a great source of food because it is low in sodium as well as a good source of vitamin B12, selenium, protein, phosphorous and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
“It is wild caught, sustainable, and a natural protein. This is the beginning of the end regarding the threat this fish presents to the Mississippi River Ecosystem from Illinois to Louisiana,” said Chef Parola at the event.
“The solution to the millions of Asian carp may rest not in government engineering projects alone, but in private enterprise and old-fashioned marketing,” according to the Louisiana Lt. Governor. “By addressing the Asian carp issue we are helping to protect our native species, while creating jobs for our fishermen by bringing this fish to market. Why eat imported catfish from Vietnam when our restaurants can offer delicious Silverfin dishes?”
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