Ill. governor floats plan to catch, eat Asian carp

Chicago (AP)

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Asian carp
This early Dec. 2009 photo shows Illinois River silver carp jump out of the water after being disturbed by sounds of watercraft. Many fear that the Asian carp, which can reach 4 feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds, will wreak havoc, not by attacking native fish, but starving them out by gobbling up plankton.
AP Photo/Illinois River Biological Station via the Detroit free Press, Nerissa Michaels

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says if you can't beat Asian carp, then you eat them.

Quinn on Tuesday announced an agreement with a Chinese meat processing company and an Illinois fishery to catch the fish and ship them to China where they are a delicacy.

Quinn says the idea is to harvest the invasive fish from Illinois rivers before they get into the Great Lakes.

The plan is to harvest at least 30 million pounds of fish by the end of next year.

Biologists fear the voracious fish that can grow to 100 pounds will destroy the Great Lakes by starving out native species.

A live carp was recently found six miles from Lake Michigan, leading to renewed calls to permanently block any connections between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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