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Video: Eating Away Indiana's Asian Carp Problem

The state is trying to figure out how to get rid of a nuisance that's rapidly taking over its rivers and streams.

Asian carp are a problem all over the Midwest. They're most well known as the fish that jump out of the water and into boats.

But they're also an invasive species that's hurting Indiana's waterways.

While there's no silver bullet to get rid of Asian carp, there are several ways to reduce the population. And many wildlife experts say the best way to address the problem is to harvest the fish.

A Perception Problem

When you're riding on a boat and they pop out of the water, Asian carp can be a pain in the neck – literally.

"You could be having a peaceful moment on the river and all the sudden you can get smacked with a 12 lb. fish on the head," says River Conservationist Brendan Kearns.

But the most devastating damage Asian carp are doing is underneath the surface. They're an invasive species that reproduces rapidly, allowing them to quickly take over rivers and streams throughout the state.

I think that's the first thing people have to get past is the name.

They eat plankton, which many of Indiana's native fish and mussels also rely on. That has scientists worried about the long term health of the state's rivers.

So they're searching for solutions.

"It comes down to we're here, so what do we do with them?" says Andrew Bueltmann, the assistant southern fish research biologist for Indiana's Department of Natural Resources. "Well, this is one thing we can do with them. We can eat them."

Bueltmann's been eating Asian carp for two years and says it's quickly become one of his favorite fish. But he says there's a stigma about the fish that means few Hoosiers have tried Asian carp.

"I think that's the first thing people have to get past is the name," he says. "It's a carp but it's not like the common carp that are here."

The DNR is trying to educate Hoosiers about the benefits of eating Asian carp, even providing demonstrations on how to filet and serve the bony fish.

Bueltmann thinks if more people started eating the fish, there would be a reason for commercial fishermen to start harvesting Asian carp.

"It's kind of a developing thing where people are trying to get other people to eat them so there's a demand for it," Bueltmann says. "There's no demand for it now so for commercial fishermen there's really no point."

Neighboring State Creates Incentive For Asian Carp Harvesting

If you travel further south to Kentucky, some commercial fishermen are focusing their efforts on catching Asian carp.

Two Rivers Fisheries invested $2 million to setup a processing plant along the Ohio River in 2013.

"By the end of December 2014 we'd taken out in excess of 3.25 million pounds out of the waters," says Operations Manager Jeff Smith.

Most of their product gets shipped overseas to China – that's where the company's owner is from. There's a high demand there for frozen Asian carp. But it's not a very lucrative venture.

"Different countries the profit is different," says Owner Angie Yu. "But for frozen fish the profit is very low."

That's why Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is taking steps to incentivize Asian carp harvesting.

The fish aren't worth much money because of the low demand, but the state will pay five cents more per pound for Asian carp if they're harvested out of certain reservoirs.

By the end of December 2014 we'd taken out in excess of 3.25 million pounds out of the waters.

"Once they get signed up for the program, they let us know they're going, we meet them at the boat ramp, verify that fish came from that water, follow them to where they're going to sell their fish, and then we provide them with a ticket that says, 'For x number of Asian carp that you harvested today we're providing five cents per pound' on top of what the processor just paid them for,'" says Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Coordinator Neal Jackson.

Kentucky also hosted a commercial fishing tournament called ‘Carp Madness' in 2013, which helped remove more than 80,000 pounds of Asian carp from two lakes.

They set up booths to show how to filet and serve the fish. But the biggest problem to solve is still perception.

"That is a tough hurdle to get over, you know?" Jackson says. "So many of us have it stuck in our brain that we don't want to try anything."

That has to change in order to create a domestic market for Asian carp – something wildlife experts say is crucial to reducing the population.

"To really remove the number of fish that we need removed to have an impact, they need to create a domestic market," Jackson says. "Because right now there is some domestic need for this fish, but that needs to scale up a bunch to get to the point where they'll be effective as a tool to decrease the population numbers."

Barriers To Harvesting Asian Carp Remain In Indiana

Scientists are conducting research on whether certain chemicals could help reduce the Asian carp population or if electrical barriers could stop them from expanding into larger bodies of water.

But until they come up with a better solution, harvesting Asian carp is the best solution states like Indiana have to reduce the population.

"If we can't get rid of them then we're going to try to do our best to find that middle ground to be able to deal with them," Jackson says.

But there are some limitations in Indiana when it comes to harvesting Asian carp. The state doesn't allow the use of cast nets to catch anything more than bait fish, which is how many commercial fishermen in other states catch Asian carp.

Many Hoosiers who are targeting Asian carp try to catch them while bow fishing, which has become increasingly popular over the past few years.

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