Today's Train of Thought- Kudzu! September 23rd, 2013

Today's Train of Thought Takes us to Dixie [and SEC country- NANESB!] and features a notorious invasive species that's become almost iconic in the south.

Kudzu was introduced to the southeastern United States as an ornamental and shade plant during the 1883 New Orleans Exposition. At the time, the government was encouraging growth of kudzu for feed stock and erosion control and the Asian plant took to the south. However, when the boll weevil spread across the south and decimated the cotton crops through the 1920s, many farmers abandoned their properties which left the kudzu to spread unchecked throughout the region. The warm, humid climate turned out to be almost ideal for the Kudzu to not only thrive, but expand unimpeded throughout the southeast. By 1997, the federal government listed Kudzu as a Noxious weed and power companies can spend millions repairing damage and clearing lines from the prolific weed. It's also been a problem for the National Parks Service, who maintains historic Civil War battle sites such as Chickamauga and Chattanooga or Vicksburg Battle National Monuments.

And it's in Vicksburg, MS that Railpictures.net contributor Paul Morgan caught eastbound Kansas City Southern manifest freight MXJA- MeXican border at Laredo, TX to JAckson, MI- as it charges out of a tunnel and uphill past a hillside covered in kudzu on September 7, 2006. Former Southern Pacific SD40T-2 # 6107 is in charge on this sunny day as the train has just crossed the mighty Mississippi.

In 1863, Union forces laid siege to the fortified city for 40 days before the Confederate defenders surrendered. Nowadays, Vicksburg is a key crossing of the Mississippi River on interstate 20 and the Kansas City Southern's Meridian Speedway.

One Man's Trash Fish Is Another Man's Dinner- Fishermen and Restaurants Look to Fish Once Considered Undesirable

A face only a mother could love- and even then, that's kinda iffy. Monkfish- also known as known as goosefish- apparently tastes better than it looks.-Photo courtesy of Katrinshine

With new regulations set to cripple New England's traditional commercial fishing industry, an unlikely group of fishermen, environmentalists and restaurateurs are attempting to come up with new concepts to keep fishermen working and seafood on the menu as limits are placed on cod and haddock.

One such solution is the marketing of 'trash' fish- fish that was once considered a nuisance and undesirable by fishermen- to consumers throughout the east coast.

Most people have only ever seen a scorpion fish in an aquarium. Unless they dine at Carolina Crossroads Restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C., where they’ll find the spiny, venomous creature on the menu.

It’s called trash fish dining, and it’s catching on with chefs around the country searching for fresh ways to fill their menus with sustainable — and delicious — seafood.

“The fishermen would be like, ‘This is all trash, junk,’ but I said, ‘I’ll pay fair price for it if you’ll bring it back to the dock,’” says James Clark, the restaurant’s executive chef. “Eat some butter-poached scorpion fish and you’ll swear it’s lobster.”

Chefs such as Clark go beyond the usual recommendation to eat small, lower-food-chain fish like sardines, and instead delve full force into little-known local catches that many anglers regard as nuisance or “trash” fish. Clark’s menu also offers triggerfish, drum, white grunt and other obscure species.

Meanwhile, New Haven, Conn., sushi restaurant Miya’s features invasive species such as shore crabs and moon snails. At San Francisco’s Incanto, chef Chris Cosentino serves sea slug, tuna spines and roasted fish heads. And at Arrows restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine, award-winning chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier built a “Trash Fish Dinner” around whiting, mackerel and other less desirable species.

Besides introducing the public to lesser-known fish, these top chefs also are promoting a broader concept of how to eat sustainably from the ocean, a concept that conservation experts say could help secure the world’s seafood supply. Just three fish — shrimp, canned tuna and salmon — account for more than half of all U.S. seafood consumption, according to the trade association the National Fisheries Institute.

The 'trash fish' offerings have proven popular with a number of customers, although there is some re-branding involved. For instance, slimehead becomes orange roughy or the Atlantic goosefish becomes monkfish to make it sound more palatable to potential consumers.

Invasive species like the Asian Carp along the Mississippi River are getting similar treatment. Although there isn't much market for the carp in the Midwest, the state of Illinois signed into a contract with China to sell 30 million pounds of carp the Chinese back in 2010. Although there is carp available in China, the rivers there are notoriously polluted. The carp from the Illinois and Missisiippi Rivers, however, are marketed as fresh and clean offerings for upscale Chinese restaurants

Holy Crap Carp! Startup Illinois Firm Successfully Marketing Invasive Fish Species to China

Ruled an invasive species by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2007, the Asian Silver carp was thought to have been introduced into the Midwest's ecosystem after an isolated pond containing them was flooded by the Mississippi River. While the fish doesn't prey on local species, it has a voracious appetite for plankton and no known natural predators in the USA and reproduces quickly, forcing out native species. Moreover, they can grow quite large- up to 20 pounds- and jump out of the water when spooked, knocking over unsuspecting boaters and fishermen.

Wildlife officials have resorted to poison and electrocution to halt the advance of the species to the Great Lakes, where they fear the species could flourish unchecked and force out even more indigenous species and disrupt the food chain.

After a failed attempt to market the fish to markets in China by an Illinois state trade envoy, an American refrigeration supplier selling equipment to Chinese customers named David Shu was approached by a Chinese customer who had heard about the problematic carp in Illinois.

"Why would they kill these great, tasty fish?" the customer asked Shu.

Shu contacted [former Illinois State Trade Director Ross] Harano, who by then was in the private sector. Illinois carp needed a marketing hook, they decided. The "wild-caught" slogan sounded good.

Asian carp have a habit of jumping out of the water, sometimes knocking fishermen from their boats. That nasty habit became a second slogan, "So much energy they jump."

Instead of targeting Chinese housewives, they would target upscale restaurants.

Chinese carp is raised on fish farms and in polluted rivers. It tastes "muddy," says Harano, who says Illinois fish taste better.

Shu and Harano secured a supply from Big River Fish, where both men now work, with Shu representing the company in China.

They interested a Chinese food distributor, who sent a fish expert to the Big River plant in Pearl.

"He pulled a fish out of the package and put the gill in his mouth, Smith said. "'This fish is two days old.' He tasted another one and said, 'This one's fresh — caught today.' He really knew fish."

Fortified by a $2 million grant from the state of Illinois, Smith is now planning to move into an 80,000-square-foot fish processing plant. The number of employees should jump from 12 to 61.

Big River is housed in a small former chicken slaughterhouse. These days, tons of carp arrive at the plant's door, are gutted and sent to a freezer. There, temperatures of 30 below zero and a 20-mile-per-hour wind freeze them solid.

[OK- the $2 million grant going to a former state official for a startup smacks of more than just a little of crony capitalism, but aisde from that, I thought it was a pretty good idea- NANESB!]

The 30 million pound order from Big River Fish co seems to be part of a trend of American companies managing to find a niche to serve Chinese markets and manufacturers after losing ground over the last decade.

Although the invasive Silver Carp seems to be finding a its place among China's noveau riche as a freshly served delicacy, there is no word yet on whether wealthy or famous Chinese such as Gong Li (above, in modified cheongsam at a movie premiere- yay cheongsams!) have given their seal of approval

Is that a Lizard in Your Pants, or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Can't it be both?

A man was caught by Norwegian customs carrying a tarantula in his bag, and a further 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body, media reported on Monday.

The 22-year-old Norwegian was stopped in a routine check by Kristiansand customs after arriving on a ferry from Denmark, newspaper Faedrelandsvennen reported.

Customs found the tarantula, before deciding to give him a full body search that revealed 14 stockings -- one for each snake -- taped around his torso, top selling tabloid VG said.

Although Norway isn't the world's most ideal climate for pythons, the constrictors have been known to escape and cause problems elsewhere.