DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

industry in carp-affected waters also brings value to every adjacent stakeholder: whether employees, supplier companies, or industries that rely on fishing.

Long-term, state governments will also benefit, relieved from spending on containment strategies or incentive programs, as commercial carp fishing continues to grow toward a self-sustaining industry. Harvesting carp diminishes the species’ negative impact and threat on the Great Lakes while creating profit for the company. Constructing Fin Gourmet’s business model in partnership with government resources will share this newfound value with each stakeholder affected by the carp.

Interestingly, Fin Gourmet takes its solution a step further within the Kentucky community, making it a practice to hire from drug courts and rehabilitation programs in the state.26 Many employees, whose criminal or vulnerable backgrounds make finding employment difficult, start second-chance careers at Fin Gourmet. The company’s solution to the carp problem is already unique, harnessing the only possible value that the invasive species offers: as food. The combination of government resources and the company’s business model generates significant profit, which it shares with each affected stakeholder— including unlikely benefactors within Kentucky’s rehabilitation centers and prisons.

Fin Gourmet’s outlook is strong, as commercial carp fishing continues to scale. The US Fish and Wildlife Service suggests that commercial fishing may never overfish carp. Fin Gourmet founder Lan Chi Luu believes that under control, carp will become “a resource,” a goal of sustainable adaptation supported by the company and government’s shared model.27 Even today, every carp Fin Gourmet nets turns the ecosystem’s worst nightmare into an opportunity to create value for a host of stakeholders.

1 Lindell, Rebecca. “Canadian Officials Reach out to Public in War against Asian Carp - National.” Global News, 18 Mar. 2013, www.globalnews.ca/news/301716/canadian-officials-reach-outto-public-in-war-against-asian-carp.

2 Mortillaro, Nicole. “Asian Carp: Why This Invasive Species Is So Dangerous to the Great Lakes.” Global News, 7 June 2016, www. globalnews.ca/news/2746118/asian-carp-why-this-invasivespecies-is-so-dangerous-to-the-great-lakes.

3 Flesher, John. “8 Options to Keep Asian Carp out of Great Lakes: Army Corps Report - National.” Global News, 26 Feb. 2014, https://www.globalnews.ca/news/1063600/optionsfor-preventing-asian-carp-from-attacking-great-lakes-to-bereleased.

4 Mortillaro.

5 “Invasive Species in the Great Lakes by 2063.” Newsroom, 20 Oct. 2015, www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/invasivespecies-great-lakes-2063-241397.

6 Beverstalk, Jeremie E., et al. “2.1 An Assessment of the Invasive Asian Carp Threat on the Great Lakes.” Environmental ScienceBites, The Ohio State University, ohiostate.pressbooks. pub/sciencebites/chapter/an-assessment-of-the-invasive-asiancarp-threat-on-the-great-lakes.

7 Mortillaro.

8 Lindell.

9 “Socio-Economic Impact of the Presence of Asian Carp in the Great Lakes Basin.” Asian Carp Canada, www.asiancarp.ca/ impacts/risk-assessments/socio-economic-impact-of-thepresence-of-asian-carp-in-the-great-lakes-basin.

10 “Carp Attack.” National Wildlife Foundation, 2 Sept. 2010. www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2010/AsianCarp#:~:text=Several%20boaters%20have%20suffered%20 injuries,will%20bite%20a%20baited%20hook.

11 Ibid.

12 “Socio-Economic Impact.”

13 Flesher, John. “Zebra Mussels in Great Lakes May Leave Asian Carp Nothing to Eat.” Cleveland, Associated Press, 29 Sept. 2010, www.cleveland.com/nation/2010/09/zebra_mussels_in_ great_lakes_m.html.

14 Cartier, Kimberly M. S. “Is Chicago Water Pollution Halting a Silver Carp Invasion?” Eos, 18 Oct. 2021, www.eos.org/articles/ is-chicago-water-pollution-halting-a-silver-carp-invasion

Nathan Chong

15 Hasler, Joe P. “7 Ways to Stop the Asian Carp Invasion.” Popular Mechanics, 11 Mar. 2022, www.popularmechanics.com/science/ environment/a6233/how-to-stop-the-carp-invasion.

16 “Eating the Most Hated Fish on the Mississippi.” Sierra Club, 12 Nov. 2018, www.sierraclub.org/sierra/eating-most-hated-fishmississippi-invasive-asian-carp.

17 Castrodale, Jelisa. “These Invasive Carp Are Getting a New Name so Americans Will Eat Them.” Food & Wine, 9 Feb. 2021, www. foodandwine.com/news/asian-carp-seafood-new-name.

18 “Eating the Most Hated Fish.”

19 Downs, Jere. “Asian Carp Leaps onto Restaurant Tables.” Journal, The Courier-Journal, 27 Sept. 2016, www.courier-journal.com/ story/life/food/farm-to-table/2016/09/27/asian-carp-leaps-ontorestaurant-tables/89653166

20 Lepeska, David. “Negative Image aside, Asian Carp Are a Boon.” The New York Times, 12 Aug. 2011, www.nytimes. com/2011/08/12/us/12cnccarp.html.

21 “Eating the Most Hated Fish.”

22 Downs.

23 “Eating the Most Hated Fish.”

24 Raucoules, Gregory. “Over 10 Million Pounds of Invasive Carp Removed from Waterways through Tennessee Program.” WATE 6 On Your Side, 17 Aug. 2021, www.wate.com/news/over-10million-pounds-of-invasive-carp-removed-from-waterwaysthrough-tennessee-program

25 Lepeska.

26 “Eating the Most Hated Fish.”

27 Ibid.

Photo Credits:

USFWS/Flickr—pages 12, 15, and 16

Ye.Sergey/Adobe Stock—page 14

“I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up. One thing I remember was always seeing these signs about Asian carp and thinking that while they might not have affected me then, they must have been an issue if the signs were everywhere. This paper for me was the answer to a longstanding curiosity, and a realization that the problem could one day impact me directly.”