Growing up, I remember the beautiful display of carp flags. It's Children's Day in Japan and they celebrate the beauty of carp. In fact, Koi means "love" in Japanese. And the Emperor himself named the carp "koi" as a symbol of Japanese children.
So to this day 2,000 years later, Children's Day is celebrated with carp. This brings up a good question. Obviously we don't have an Emperor in the United States to follow and when it comes to Asian Carp, there's really no authority to lead on how we can approach carp.
However after watching and listening to the Asian Carp Forum, both in 2010 and in 2105, I'm still not convinced that these scholars, biologists, and politicians have what it takes to make the change. In my eyes, the true problem with carp is that they are "hated". The fact is that rural Americans just see carp as a useless unwanted garbage fish. Without any value, carp is neglected as a pest rather than a fish.
And maybe that's where the disconnect is. Carp is cherished in Japan. It's a symbol of children. There is big business around carp in the sense that it's a cultural icon. In America, we worship things like the Bald Eagle and maybe the dolphin, but rarely do we worship things that we want removed. This is a key difference between Americans and the rest of the globe.
In Japan, they worship fish like blowfish, dolphin, whales, and even blue fin tuna as sacred things to eat. In other words, you'll see signs and statues of these fishes even though their goal is removing them from the oceans and cutting them up to eat raw. It sounds harsh and the crazy Sea Shepherd won't accept this mentality. However, this is the biggest mistake in American society.
We hate Asian Carp in America. We bash them. We kill them. We hit them with bats. We do everything to Asian Carp almost like a racial hatred lynching. The reason is because in our society in America, anything we are to kill off, we are supposed to hate with almost a sick passion.
It's embedded throughout history of race, not to mention the grotesque facination for violence in Hollywood, but rarely do appreciate a kill as food. We don't cherish the kill of a species and worship it.
Scholars are great at dissecting the carp anatomy for finding a smoking gun to stop carp. Historians are quick to point out that carp was introduced decades ago and won't become a food staple in America. And the politicians are just simply attempting to find military and engineering ways to stop carp.
None of them seem to understand the missing element of accepting carp as a cultural icon. We need to worship carp and appreciate them for being a food fish.
Until we change this and see carp as a cherished fish and a blessing to eat, we won't be able to market carp for a what it is. It's simply a good eating fish. And they multiply quickly which makes them a viable food source for the poor, not to mention the obese who need more Omega-3.
It's easy in Japan because the Emperor is sacred. What he believed, Japan always listened. In America, we only have a Carp Czar. And his sole job is to remove carp and kill them off permanently. In fact, John Goss clearly stated he had no interest in marketing carp as a food fish.
If our Czar can't help market the fish. Who will? Well 30 years ago, I sat in America thinking to myself how come sushi or raw fish is so hard to find. Everybody around me simply felt sick at the idea of eating raw fish. This eventually changed over time because children grew up around sushi. It was easily more accepted because they didn't have the upbringing of fear that the previous generation had.
In fact, sushi became a huge hit more recently due to the obesity epidemic. More and more Americans are getting sick with heart disease and diabetes at younger ages due to bad diets. Sushi became the only viable option. The problem? It's just not sustainable for the entire globe. There isn't enough fish to support the sushi craze across America.
If these scholars and politicians had worked together on this fact, they'd immediately move to cherish the carp as a food fish and not to mention integrate a cultural way to accept this fish. Remember, cherishing this fish doesn't mean preserving them and protecting them as a species, but rather appreciating them as a viable food source. To kill them off and to eat them knowing that they provide the highly valued Omega-3 for the obese population.
The benefits are indisputable. It'll help fight heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The three leading diseases in America. Also, I truly believe that the carp population will begin to shrink. Also, the rural American voices and stereotypes towards carp as a food fish will cease. In fact, I know it will because sushi is now an American icon. American sushi is seen with respect even in Japanese society. The tables have turned indeed.
As for Asian Carp? We need a new approach on this beautiful food fish.
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