Kagan and Carp

As President Barack Obama’s Solicitor General, Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan argued against closing the Chicago locks to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan. 

 LINK  (Via: The Great Lakes Echo)

Asian Carp - The Culinary Solution

Chicago chef turned fish monger Carl Galven supplied 100 pounds of Asian carp to some of his boutique restaurant customers and their hot shot chefs. Could they help Asian carp appeal to a larger market of eaters and ultimately take a bite out of the exploding population?

"So far, all I can say is that they are disgusting," reported Paul Kahan upon receiving his share at the Publican.

"The shape was salmon like, with a bull head," said David Carrier from Kith & Kin. "It kind of looked like a character from Return of the Jedi."

"They almost bleed like a land animal," said Browntrout chef Sean Sanders. "It's a very, very bloody fish."

Paul Kahan's crew didn't try that hard. "After a few attempts at butchering, we were adequately creeped out and will not go any further," he e-mailed.

Some chefs had better luck including Philip Voss who is the one struggling to fillet the fish in the video. Voss also posted his view of the Asian carp experiment on his foodie blog The Pickled Toungue.

Foss's Crisp Paupiette of Asian Carp in Barolo Sauce....mmmmmmm.

Do Asian carp really spell doom for the Great Lakes?

Photo Via: Rolf and Kathy Simonson

Some experts say that Asian carp may not be the ecological disaster some are predicting. Ironically it's another pair of invasive species, zebra and quagga mussels, that may be one of the factors that limits the leaping carp from establishing a hold in Lake Michigan.

LINK (Via: Freep.com)

White House will host carp summit

Despite the Obama administration's decision to side with the State of Illinois in the lawsuit to close the Ship Canal locks, officials have been insisting that turning back the carp's advance is a high priority for the administration.  LINK

Asian carp DNA found in Lake Michigan; Supreme Court rejects remedy

Photo: Chris Young

More bad news on the efforts to stop Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes.

New water samples reveal that Asian carp DNA has been found in Lake Michigan near the city of Chicago, the first indication that the giant leaping fish, which can upend entire ecosystems, has made it up the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and into the world's largest freshwater system.

The Journal Sentinel learned of the apparent breach just minutes before the U.S. Supreme Court announced it had declined a request from a coalition of Great Lakes states to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to slam shut two lakeside navigation locks in a drastic attempt to protect the Great Lakes and their $7 billion annual fishery.

LINK (Via: JS On-Line)

Sue em or Stew em - Two Ways to Stop Asian Carp

Photo: Chris Young

Stop Asian Carp is a project of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. Cox is suing the Army Corp. and the State of Illinois to close the locks that provide the last barrier keeping the carp out of the Great Lakes. Sign the on-line petition urging the Congress and the President to force the Army Corp. to close the locks.

LINK

If you can't beat em....eat em!

Asian carp may be a problem in the Great Lakes, but in Louisiana they are renaming it silver fin and promoting it as a delicacy. Chef Philippe Parola says the Asian carp's texture is a cross between scallop and crabmeat, adding its bones can be removed easily by steaming. 

LINK (Via: NPR)

Commercial anglers are having a tough time marketing this abundant nuisance species which ranks better than tuna in taste tests.  LINK