If “invasive carp” doesn't sound appetizing, how about a plate of copi?
The state of Illinois is unveiling a market-tested rebranding campaign to make the fish appealing to consumers. https://t.co/K1PEeV6bxn pic.twitter.com/UraO4TClIk
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 23, 2022
… Alas, were Richard Guindon with us at this hour…
… “The ‘carp’ name is so harsh that people won’t even try it,” said Kevin Irons, assistant fisheries chief with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “But it’s healthy, clean and it really tastes pretty darn good.”
The federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is funding the five-year, $600,000 project to rebrand the carp and make them widely available. More than two dozen distributors, processors, restaurants and retailers have signed on. Most are in Illinois, but some deliver to multiple states or nationwide…
Span, a Chicago communications design company, came up with “copi.” It’s an abbreviated wordplay on “copious” * — a reference to the booming populations of bighead, silver, grass and black carp in the U.S. heartland.
Imported from Asia in the 1960s-70s to gobble algae from Deep South sewage lagoons and fish farms, they escaped into the Mississippi. They’ve infested most of the river and many tributaries, crowding out native species like bass and crappie.
Regulators have spent more than $600 million to keep them from the Great Lakes and waters such as Lake Barkley on the Kentucky-Tennessee line. Strategies include placing electric barriers at choke points and hiring crews to harvest the fish for products such as fertilizer and pet food. Other technologies — underwater noisemakers, air bubble curtains — are in the works.
It would help if more people ate the critters, which are popular in other countries. Officials estimate up to 50 million pounds (22.7 million kilograms) could be netted annually in the Illinois River between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan. Even more are available from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast…