US experts visit China to seek solution for Asian carp invasion

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-09-24

Before and after pictures of a carp dish from Tianjin. (File photo/Xinhua)

American fish experts visited China in early September to seek a solution to the proliferation of Asian carp in the United States. The fish is considered a delicacy in China but is posing a threat to America's native fish and clam species.

The proliferation has been widely discussed by Chinese internet users who joked that the US government could save money on the planned dam to stop the fish if they just paid Chinese tour groups to come to the US to eat all the carp.

The US government has been considering building a dam or a permanent barrier to stop eight Asian carp species, including common carp, black carp, grass carp, silver carp and bullhead from entering the Great Lakes. The barrier would cost US$18 billion and could significantly increase transportation costs for neighboring regions such as Chicago's shipping and steel industry, according to the BBC.

Carp was introduced to the US in the 1970s to reduce algae build-up and improve water quality in ponds, however, the fish escaped to waterways after floods and threatened native species with their large size and rapid reproduction rate. Jim Garvey, director of Southern Illinois University's Fisheries and Aquaculture Center, worried that the fish will eat and destroy native mussels. He was one of the American experts visiting China to explore the commercial potential of Asian carp.

The experts visited a seafood market in Shanghai and seafood processing factories in Wuhan in Hubei province. They also tasted carp dishes such as braised carp and a northeastern Chinese dish consisting of bread soaked in fish head soup.