MichiganRadio

Asian Carp: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - If you can't beat em, eat em.

That's the new approach Illinois will try to fight Asian carp. The invasive fish threaten to invade the Great Lakes.

An Illinois fishery will harvest 30 million pounds of Asian carp a year from the Illinois River and sell them to a Chinese meat processing company.

Chris McCloud is a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He says there's not much of a market for Asian carp in the United States, for two reasons.

"They're very bony. You have to be meticulous and pick the meat off the bone, and two is their name - carp. Americans just don't eat things called carp."

McCloud says the harvesting is just one part of the strategy to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow says the only real solution is to permanently close off the Great Lakes from Chicago waterways.

Illinois does not want to do that. © Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio