Online, there has been infinite jokes and questions about Asian Carp. The most common question is carp being edible? The reality is that most Americans lack fish in their diets to justify avoiding carp as a choice. However, for the longest time Monterey Bay Aquarium didn't have carp listed as a food fish. It wasn't until I asked them directly and also wrote to them the they replied back that they would indeed add carp and that the biologists were fact finding on information regarding nutrition and ratings for the carp as a food fish.
Today it's officially listed as a food fish on Seafood Watch. America's most respected listing of seafood ratings in the world and also a great way to join the sustainable seafood movement. In fact, restaurants are encouraged to get on board to be certified by Seafood Watch to become sustainable.
Seafood Watch recommends "Certified Natureland" farmed carp. This means that they went to the farm and tested the waters, the atmosphere and nutrition of the carp. Natureland must have passed all their requirements to be a supplier of carp.
Now for those in rural America who question the validity of carp as food, well it's very difficult to rebuke Monterey Bay Aquarium. They are truly the benchmark in seafood ratings and sustainable fish.
What does this mean for the infamous invasive Asian Carp? Well it's simple, for a long as the Lacey Act exists, farmed carp will be the only best option in California. That's because to this day, we still don't have access to the wild Asian Carp from the Mississippi River because the Lacey Act won't allow for shipment of live Asian Carp.
Live carp is still very common in ethnic grocers across California but almost all of them are farmed. It's a weird reality that consumed fish that is considered invasive species in America has to be farmed in America. Does this make sense? We have billions of carp in our water ways and none of them make it to the grocers. Instead markets are forced to use farmed carp because that's the only way to get them in tanks in California?
It doesn't matter. In my eyes, farmers are farmers and they deserve to be a part of the process when it comes to fish. I'm just glad that the prestigious Monterey Bay Aquarium finally sees carp as one of the most eaten fishes in the world.
As the Great Lakes suffer to fend off Asian Carp, here we are in California with access only to the farmed carp. Farming fish is one way to remain sustainable, but not when we have plenty of invasive fish to go around?
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