Omnivore - Invasive fish invade...your dinner plate?

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• His kind ain’t welcome here.

For some reason, eating something that’s “invasive” just doesn’t sound that appetizing. I wouldn’t want to chow down on a kudzu salad or snack on some seasoned cane toad legs, for instance. But when it comes to fish, eating invasive species could be a way to preserve the native ones, or so an environmental group hopes. Food and Water Watch is pushing for invasive species such as lionfish, Asian carp and blue tilapia to be sold in American markets and cooked and eaten by American consumers. The group recommended these species as sustainable choices in its 2011 Smart Seafood Guide, and had chef Kerry Heffernan cook lionfish and Asian Carp at the James Beard House last week.

However, even though lionfish are all over the East Coast and Asian carp have invaded several U.S. lakes and rivers, invasive fish might be hard to find in your local supermarket. Take Whole Foods, for instance:

The company has no intention of selling Asian carp or lionfish anytime soon. “We simply haven’t even investigated, as there has been no urging from customers to do so,” spokeswoman Ashley Hawkins tells Shots.
Hawkins added that before the company would even consider stocking invasive species, it would need to research “commercial availability, presentation, taste and customer acceptance.”