'Eat the invader': Officials call on public to consume invasive fish
While some say the campaign will help remove invasive carp, others are skeptical.
In the 1960s and 70s, Asian carp were introduced to the southern U.S. to control algal blooms. A series of unfortunate events, including floods and human error, helped the fish escape into the Mississippi River system, and their population has been exploding ever since.
The term "Asian carp" collectively refers to four species: bighead, silver, grass, and black. The voracious eaters out-compete native fish and destroy local environments, accounting for 90 per cent of all fish biomass in parts of the Upper Mississippi.
The bighead, silver, black, and grass carp, are in Ontario waters and threaten the Great Lakes ecosystem, although they do not appear to be present in large numbers.
Carp has been eaten in parts of Asia for thousands of years but, because the species is destructive and invasive in the U.S., that culinary trend hasn't picked up much traction in North America.
Back in 2021, Illinois officials introduced a campaign to rebrand the carps as a tasty treat.
File photo: Asian Carp jumps out of the water at the mouth of the Wabash River. Courtesy: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Todd Davis/Flickr CC BY 2.0
The message is still being relayed by officials. In a February 2025 press release, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service included carp on its list of edible invasive species.
The release, 'Eat the Invaders,' reminds the public the fish are "surprisingly tasty."
"Try them grilled, blackened, or turned into crispy fish cakes," the agency suggests.
Other health benefits of carp
Carp is a flaky fish that's low in iron and high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Dirk Fucik, owner of Dirk's Fish and Gourmet Shop in Chicago told USA Today in 2021 carp isn't a bottom-feeding fish. It's actually a plankton feeder, with "cleaner, sweeter-tasting meat."
People still reluctant to eat carp
Illinois officials poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into their 2021 campaign to entice the public to eat invasive carp, going so far as to re-name the fish copi, a marketing ploy to diminish any unappetizing perceptions about the fish.
Despite the effort, the initiative didn't pick up much steam, with local restaurants reporting the fish remained largely unordered.
Invasive carp in North America.
Is eating invasive species a good idea?
While adding invasive species to the menu can increase awareness about conservation efforts, benefit the local economy if the trend takes off, and aid in early detection and rapid response, there are some risks, according to a 2021 research paper.
For example, creating a market around an invasive species doesn't guarantee it will put a sizeable dent in the population, and it could promote further invasions.
And once a market for an invasive species has been established, it can become "harder to encourage complete removal of the monetarily valuable species," the paper argues.
In short - many experts agree eating invasives is just a band-aid approach that won't solve the larger issue, "but finding another purpose for invasives is better than just leaving them to wreak havoc," reads a blog post on foodprint.org.
Asian carp in Canada
The rush to remove Asian carp from local waters is part of an effort to prevent them from entering the Great Lakes.
To date, there haven't been many captures of Asian carp in Canadian waters.
According to the Government of Canada, only three specimens of bighead carp have been collected, all in western Lake Erie, with the last capture occurring in 2003. Since 2012, there have been about 23 single captures of grass carp.
Header image: Cheryl Santa Maria for The Weather Network. File photo via Canva Pro.