7 ms·

One way to get rid of this problem is if they taste good, market them to Asian restaurants. Right now spicy crawfish boils are fashionable in China, and I'm pr

One way to get rid of this problem is if they taste good, market them to Asian restaurants. Right now spicy crawfish boils are fashionable in China, and I'm pretty sure the other East/Southeast Asian countries like crawfish also. Just like with jellyfish. Chinese people already eat jellyfish, so if there's an infestation of jellyfish in the ocean, figure out a way to eat that species. A billion people can really put a dent in any wild population.

rcpt 9y ago
You're getting downvotes but it's a completely reasonable effort, cf blackened snakehead and lionfish.
ams6110 9y ago
Not just Asian. Crayfish are popular in Cajun and other Southern cooking.
- jimmywanger 9y ago
  Sure. But I'm pretty sure that there are more Asian people than Cajun/Southern people, and if you want to create a large market, it makes sense to focus on the really big markets.
flukus 9y ago
Why just asian restaurants? They're basically fresh water lobsters, you should be able to market them anywhere that serves lobster/prawn/shrimp.
- jimmywanger 9y ago
  Well, you'd do a general marketing push, but Asian markets are a fairly narrow target market, some of them specialize in spicy crayfish boils, so it seems easier since the supplier and the demand are both there and you'd get more bang for your marketing buck. But if you could pick up 150 crawfish in an hour with just your hands, think of what a lighted trap could do overnight.
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  A certain age cohort of Chinese people will eat anything, likely resulting from when their parents had to do just that to avoid starvation. US-origin crayfish only look like shrimp-sized lobsters, they don't taste as good as either. They're more like if you boiled a lobster for too long and smeared it with river-bottom mud instead of butter. And at that size, the shells are a real pain.
sandos 9y ago
I was thinking about just this solution, eating them! In Sweden crayfish is very popular and crayfish catching is a popular activity, and there are even competitions. This species was found here in 2012, but only sporadically it seems after that, so we might not have a problem yet.
jackmoore 9y ago
Be careful creating a market or a bounty as it creates a perverse incentive toward intentionally introducing it to news areas.
hodl 9y ago
Got a problem? Eat it! I like your style
adrianmonk 9y ago
If the article is correct that these species can go extinct easily, then it is probably a bad idea to develop it as a food source. It could lead to a situation where millions of people become dependent on it, and then it suddenly becomes unavailable.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
bambax 9y ago
In France they are an invasive species. We are eating it (it can be found on sale everywhere) but it's not very good. We have been eating crayfish for a long time; indigenous French (or European?) crayfish were delicious but they have been wiped out by this species.
- masklinn 9y ago
  > We have been eating crayfish for a long time; indigenous French (or European?) crayfish were delicious but they have been wiped out by this species. AFAIK indigenous european species have mostly been displaced by various american species (mostly spinycheek, signal, and louisiana crawfishes) — and severely hit by diseases those brought[0] — over the course of the 20th century. The marbled crayfish is a recent development. I don't think the marbled crayfish is great cooking fare, it's pretty small. [0] especially the crayfish plague: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish_plague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish_plague
  - bambax 9y ago
    Oh that's possible, yes. I'm not an expert and don't know if the marbled crayfish is the one on sale; I can tell the ones on sale are not the indigenous one, but not much more.
- coroxout 9y ago
  In the UK the native crayfish are already severely threatened by invasive signal crayfish. I'm not sure if we have marble crayfish yet but if they breed that quickly it sounds very bad for the native crayfish - and maybe for the accidentally introduced signal crayfish too. There are various streams near me where you can go out in summer with a piece of bacon, some string and a box (maybe a net too) and catch signal crayfish. You don't need a permit as they're an invasive species - in fact you're not allowed to put them back if you catch any. (But do put them back if you catch the native species! The signal crayfish are larger and have big red claws with white flashes which give them their name.) edit: was writing my now largely redundant post as masklinn posted. I hadn't realised the Marmorkrebs were smaller - does that make them less of a threat? It does say they're already a problem for native species in Madagascar.

rcpt 9y ago

You're getting downvotes but it's a completely reasonable effort, cf blackened snakehead and lionfish.

ams6110 9y ago

Not just Asian. Crayfish are popular in Cajun and other Southern cooking.

jimmywanger 9y ago
Sure. But I'm pretty sure that there are more Asian people than Cajun/Southern people, and if you want to create a large market, it makes sense to focus on the really big markets.

flukus 9y ago

Why just asian restaurants? They're basically fresh water lobsters, you should be able to market them anywhere that serves lobster/prawn/shrimp.

jimmywanger 9y ago
Well, you'd do a general marketing push, but Asian markets are a fairly narrow target market, some of them specialize in spicy crayfish boils, so it seems easier since the supplier and the demand are both there and you'd get more bang for your marketing buck. But if you could pick up 150 crawfish in an hour with just your hands, think of what a lighted trap could do overnight.
logfromblammo 9y ago
A certain age cohort of Chinese people will eat anything, likely resulting from when their parents had to do just that to avoid starvation. US-origin crayfish only look like shrimp-sized lobsters, they don't taste as good as either. They're more like if you boiled a lobster for too long and smeared it with river-bottom mud instead of butter. And at that size, the shells are a real pain.

sandos 9y ago

I was thinking about just this solution, eating them! In Sweden crayfish is very popular and crayfish catching is a popular activity, and there are even competitions. This species was found here in 2012, but only sporadically it seems after that, so we might not have a problem yet.

jackmoore 9y ago

Be careful creating a market or a bounty as it creates a perverse incentive toward intentionally introducing it to news areas.

hodl 9y ago

Got a problem? Eat it! I like your style

adrianmonk 9y ago

If the article is correct that these species can go extinct easily, then it is probably a bad idea to develop it as a food source. It could lead to a situation where millions of people become dependent on it, and then it suddenly becomes unavailable.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

bambax 9y ago

In France they are an invasive species. We are eating it (it can be found on sale everywhere) but it's not very good. We have been eating crayfish for a long time; indigenous French (or European?) crayfish were delicious but they have been wiped out by this species.

masklinn 9y ago
> We have been eating crayfish for a long time; indigenous French (or European?) crayfish were delicious but they have been wiped out by this species. AFAIK indigenous european species have mostly been displaced by various american species (mostly spinycheek, signal, and louisiana crawfishes) — and severely hit by diseases those brought[0] — over the course of the 20th century. The marbled crayfish is a recent development. I don't think the marbled crayfish is great cooking fare, it's pretty small. [0] especially the crayfish plague: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish_plague https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish_plague
- bambax 9y ago
  Oh that's possible, yes. I'm not an expert and don't know if the marbled crayfish is the one on sale; I can tell the ones on sale are not the indigenous one, but not much more.
coroxout 9y ago
In the UK the native crayfish are already severely threatened by invasive signal crayfish. I'm not sure if we have marble crayfish yet but if they breed that quickly it sounds very bad for the native crayfish - and maybe for the accidentally introduced signal crayfish too. There are various streams near me where you can go out in summer with a piece of bacon, some string and a box (maybe a net too) and catch signal crayfish. You don't need a permit as they're an invasive species - in fact you're not allowed to put them back if you catch any. (But do put them back if you catch the native species! The signal crayfish are larger and have big red claws with white flashes which give them their name.) edit: was writing my now largely redundant post as masklinn posted. I hadn't realised the Marmorkrebs were smaller - does that make them less of a threat? It does say they're already a problem for native species in Madagascar.