Missouri continues its efforts to eradicate the Asian Carp from the state’s lakes, rivers, and streams.
The invasive fish species depletes food sources for native bass and crappie and are known for becoming agitated and jumping into boats when they hear the engines.
One way to get rid of them that some people might not consider is to catch and eat them. Andrew Branson with the Missouri Department of Conservation told Missourinet that they are edible.
“We did it this year at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia – and we’ve done it in years past as well – where we actually do a demonstration a couple days on invasive carp and how to cook and clean them, and then we serve them,” Branson said. “We actually serve little samples and people are amazed at how well they taste.”
And since the state is trying to eradicate the Asian Carp, there’s no daily limit and they can be caught year-round with any legal fishing method.
“The Big Head carp and the silver carp, especially, are filter feeders,” Branson said. “It’s a real clean-eating fish, its meat is white and flaky, not much fishy taste that some people don’t like…so anyway we encourage people if you do come across these things, yeah actually try them out.”
Last month, more than 38,000 pounds of invasive carp were hauled out of the Grand River in northern Missouri near Brunswick. A local company is set to sell them as fish bait.
Copyright 2023, Missourinet.
