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The Asian carp infestation has reached major waterways in the US, ravaging local ecosystems and threatening the seafood industry.

The Great Lakes is their next target, and the author proposes a simple supply and demand strategy to combat this carp-ocalypse.

Since the 1970s, the waterways of North America have become home to an unwanted guest— the Asian carp. Originally introduced in the Deep South to control pond overgrowth, the invasive species’ ability to grow and reproduce rapidly established its dominance in every ecosystem it has touched. Starving out native species and destroying aquatic habitats, the carp overwhelmed much of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and are quickly moving north to the Canadian border.

So far, Asian carp have not yet reached the Great Lakes and its tributaries, where their arrival would decimate the ecosystems and industries dependent on the area. The fish are currently kept from the Lakes by natural and human-made deterrents, but such barriers are temporary. Only twenty carp need to reach the Lakes’ waters for an invasion to be unstoppable.1 As such, containment is not enough to solve the carp problem— or one day, the Great Lakes, too, will fall victim to the Asian carp.

The Asian carp is naturally invincible due to its size, reaching over four feet in length and growing more than ten inches in its first year.2 After escaping from controlled pond environments during floods, the carp migrated up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.3 The fish are estimated to make up more than 50 percent of the biomass in the Illinois River, less than half a decade after their introduction. 4 Since then, carp have been found in 45 states.

Today, the imminent invasion of the Great Lakes is the greatest concern of ecologists and economists alike, based on the spread that carp have enjoyed in American freshwaters. The Great Lakes ecosystem is already vulnerable, having been invaded by more non-native species than any freshwater environment in the world.5 Noting the effect the species has already had on US rivers, researchers identified 22 likely tributaries of the Lakes as additional habitation grounds for the fish.6 The ecological similarities of the environments create a threat for the stakeholders of the Great Lakes and urgently need to be addressed as the fish inch closer to invasion.

The problem created by the carp stems from its voracious appetite. Its ability to consume up to 120 percent of its body weight in plankton starves out smaller fish that depend on such aquatic vegetation and disrupts the food chain from the bottom up.7 Some species of carp also feast on underwater plants, destroying the physical protection that the same small fish use to avoid predators. As such, the arrival of Asian carp decimates populations of smaller fish, creating a ripple effect that targets predators up the chain. For example, the carp’s eradication of water plants harms up to 33 aquatic species, in turn threatening 18 species of birds reliant on those life forms. With no natural predators due to their size, the carp can quickly overwhelm every ecosystem they encounter. Anecdotal billion over 20 years if left unchecked.12 Effects on the fishing and boating industries impact the stakeholders who depend on them. The local businesses, governments, and workers that these industries support are all threatened by the imbalance that the carp create. As such, economic effects in the Great Lakes may be even worse than current forecasts, which only consider the fishing and boating industries alone.

Fortunately, few carp have reached the Great Lakes, thanks to natural and humanmade barriers. Quagga mussels, a species that previously invaded the Great Lakes, consume plankton in such high quantities that they leave little room for carp.13 Researchers claim numbers suggest that 9 out of 10 fish in invaded areas are Asian carp.8

The impact of this ecological imbalance extends to human stakeholders as well. Walleye and perch in the Great Lakes draw sport and commercial fishers into a local fishing industry valued at $7 billion.9 Ecological imbalance— too many carp and not enough other species— can drive away the industry. According to the National Wildlife Federation, more than 80 percent of commercial fishermen left the Illinois River after its invasion by carp.10 A similar impact is likely in the Great Lakes, with losses of $23 billion over five years.11 Carp also pose physical safety risks, often jumping several feet into the air when startled by boats, causing injury or damage. Damages to the $16 billion boating industry, closely linked with commercial fishing, are forecasted to reach over $120 that coastal water pollution also deters new fish from entering the polluted Lakes.14 The Illinois government erected three highvoltage electric barriers near Chicago in 2002, surging with enough power to stop a human heart. With these measures, only one carp has been caught in the Great Lakes.

To keep the carp out of its waters, the US Federal Government spends $270 million annually on man-made programs. Solutions that create barriers between the carp and the Great Lakes are working, but temporarily. Water samples already show traces of carp DNA.15 Containment may keep carp from the Great Lakes for now but it does not mitigate the impending threat. Balancing the ecological imbalance that carp create would tackle the core problem of Asian carp, and hopefully, one day render temporary fixes, like barriers, obsolete.

The Kentucky-based startup Fin Gourmet presents an intuitive solution: eat the fish and decrease their numbers before the species breaks into the Great Lakes. Founded in 2010, the company harvests thousands of carp on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.16 Fin Gourmet’s ability to overcome the challenges of processing carp propelled the company to its size today. Asian carp are difficult to eat, with many small bones that make them challenging to filet. Further, negative perceptions make them an unpopular choice in American restaurants.17

Fin Gourmet’s first business plan, handcutting filets and shipping them overseas, proved unprofitable with low margins. The company was advised to sell the undesired fish to markets like prisons or to market them as emergency food packets. Instead, Fin Gourmet developed a diverse product line. Asian carp filets, rebranded as Kentucky Blue Snapper, have made their way across the country, even appearing in the White House. Yet, while the company sells twenty thousand pounds each week, filets are only a small portion of revenue. Fin Gourmet’s minced fish paste dominates Asian markets in American cities, and high-end pet food manufacturers buy its fish scraps in bulk. Sustainably using the entire fish to serve several markets increases Fin Gourmet’s profit 125x, netting almost $50 in profit per catch.18 Its approach maximizes the useful consumption of carp. Since the carp have no natural predators, Fin Gourmet’s founders believe the responsibility falls to humans, the only species able to kill them and to feast on the invasive fish.

An idea as simple as eating the carp, paired with Fin Gourmet’s efficiency, tackles the root of the carp problem. Each product sold takes one fish out of American rivers and away from the invasion’s frontier near the Great Lakes— providing an economic incentive that works in tandem with existing containment efforts. Physical barriers like those near Chicago have kept carp from the Lakes for now. At the same time, commercial fisheries like Fin Gourmet have removed more than two-thirds of carp in the area between Chicago and the upper Illinois River.

Harvesting the carp relieves pressure on both local ecosystems and the Great Lakes. With fewer carp and continued commercial fishing, smaller fish populations can return, reclaim, and revitalize the food chain. While carp destroy a food chain by decimating its bottom levels, removing carp directly from the ecosystem allows the food chain to rebuild from the bottom up. As Kentucky Fisheries’ chief Ron Brooks puts it, “commercial harvest is the only means to realistically reduce Asian carp numbers.” 19 This combination of containment and reduction makes Fin Gourmet’s solution so effective. During the temporary respite provided by barriers near the Great Lakes, Fin Gourmet diminishes the threat of carp in larger numbers, simultaneously reducing their impact on areas they have already invaded.

Fin Gourmet has opened a new market for commercial carp fishing, attempting to revitalize the fishing industry that the carp drove away. But transitioning commercial fishing to accommodate Asian carp is difficult and needs government intervention. The 80 percent of fishermen who left the invaded Illinois River had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of carp in their gill nets. A few decades ago, hundreds of commercial fishermen roamed the Illinois. Today, only a couple dozen remain.20

Restoring the industry will need incentives for commercial fisheries to be willing to return to carp-infested waters. Fin Gourmet attempts to offset the challenges of carp fishing by paying the highest prices on the market to fishermen in exchange by setting quality standards. The company can afford to do so now; Fin Gourmet makes maximized profits on each fish. But as the industry grows and fisheries bring in higher quantities of carp, the company’s promises of higher payouts may not be financially sustainable.21

Fin Gourmet should partner with state governments to maximize its reach across commercial fisheries. Several states already have carp harvesting incentives. Certain state universities offer $100 per carp caught, while the State of Kentucky subsidizes five cents per pound of carp.22 Similar incentives from the Illinois government reduced carp populations in some areas by 93 percent.23 A campaign by the Tennessee government removed ten million pounds of carp from the state’s waters.24

These measurements alone evidence a causal relationship between incentives and decreasing carp populations. But in government programs like these, much of the carp harvested is wasted at the expense of taxpayer dollars. Researcher Jim Garvey questions why government funds are used to eradicate the carp and send them to landfills when money could be made from each fish and redirected into the commercial carp industry. 25 As they share the same goal of reducing carp populations, Fin Gourmet and state governments should form a partnership that combines incentives with the profitable use of the fish.

Both parties solve challenges that the other, on its own, cannot accomplish. Fin Gourmet, able to sustainably harvest every part of the fish, presents a useful destination for harvested Asian carp. The government, which already uses taxpayer dollars for incentive programs, would offer resources to help Fin Gourmet incentivize more commercial fisheries. A subsidy for Fin Gourmet will simultaneously reduce carp populations and grow the carp fishing industry by redirecting government expenditure from current incentive programs to the company’s network of commercial fisheries. The successes of previous government incentives in Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee would encourage Fin Gourmet. The company already plans to pay more for carp should the market expand, an ambition potentially made possible with government subsidies. In doing so, the company could establish a feedback loop in the growing carp market that benefits the company, state governments, commercial fisheries and the invaded ecosystems collectively.

The partnership between state government incentives and Fin Gourmet will open opportunities for shared value. The combined reach of government and private businesses will further reduce carp populations. At the same time, Fin Gourmet creates value for impacted fisheries, stimulating the emerging carp market to restore the entire industry. By maximizing the sustainable utility of each fish, Fin Gourmet generates significant profits, which it redirects into incentives to grow the carp market. Commercial fisheries share in Fin Gourmet’s revenues, bolstered by government subsidies to increase their carp harvesting. The revival of the fishing