Talk about turning lemons into lemonade; Southern Illinois businesses and local academicians this week were exploring ways of turning invasive Asian carp into profits.

An 11-member Chinese delegation, along with U.S. conservation leaders, were scheduled to tour American Heartland Fish Products at Grafton, Ill. near St. Louis, Wednesday to learn how to reduce the massive number of Asian carp invading Midwest waterways.

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The invasive fish need to go, and one way to get rid of them faster is to process and sell them. Carp are considered a delicacy in China, but are considered bottom feeders in the U.S., where they are marketed as silverfin or Kentucky tuna - at least not yet.

Hundreds of miles of Illinois waterways have been overwhelmed by the invasive Asian carp in the last decade. The invasive jumping carp were introduced by Southern fish farmers in the 1970s to cleanse commercial holding pens.

Escaping fish, and their progeny, made their way to the Mississippi River in the 1990s. Facing no predators and exhibiting prodigious appetites, Asian carp from the Yangzte River have become a significant problem for Midwest rivers and other fish. They currently make up 80 percent of the Illinois River's biomass.

Getting them out of Midwest waterways has become a conservationist priority. Turning them into something positive is where the Southern Illinois connection has taken shape.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), researchers and scientists at the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences working with American Heartland Fish Products of Grafton, Ill. near St. Louis, have been looking at ways to commercialize the dead fish.

Marybeth Brey, a fellow at the university's fisheries center, said researchers were looking at ways to overcome logistical challenges related to keeping Asian carp fresh and getting them to China quickly where a market exists for  their consumption.

Since Americans haven't developed an appetite for the carp, the challenge is marketing rather than harvesting, Brey told local news sources.

Brey and SIUC scientists will acompany the Chinese delegation to the Grafton fish processing plant to network over marketing carp. American Heartland now buys Asian carp from 40 commercial fishermen and wants to expand its operations if possible.

Tagsasian carp, invasive species, southern illinois, river, Species, Illinois, aquaculture, seafood