本周最新紐約時報文章搶讀 獅子魚大餐Yummy!

From the New York Times

July 9, 2011

Answer for Invasive Species: Put It on a Plate and Eat It

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

With its dark red and black stripes,黑色條紋 spotted fins有花斑的鰭 and long venomous black spikes突出的有毒的刺鬚, the lionfish獅子魚 seems better suited比較適合 for horror films than consumption食用. But lionfish fritters油炸魚排 and filets魚片 may be on American tables soon.

An invasive species入侵物種, the lionfish is devastating reef fish populations危及其他珊瑚魚群數量 along the Florida coast and into the Caribbean從美國佛州沿岸一直到加勒比海海域. Now, an increasing number of environmentalists環保人士, consumer groups and scientists are seriously testing a novel solution新的解決方案 to control it and other aquatic invasive species水中的入侵物種 — one that would also takes pressure off depleted ocean fish stocks衰竭的海洋魚群: they want Americans to step up to their plates準備行動 and start eating invasive critters生物 in large numbers.

l  (step up to their plate是個棒球運動引伸出來的說法，跟打擊有關：to step up to the plate。打擊手站的地方叫plate ， to step up to the plate 就是走到擊球點，準備打擊。意思就是準備行動。美式英文中有許多由棒球衍生出來的詞句，此為一常用例子)

“Humans are the most ubiquitous predators on earth人類是這世界上最無所不在的掠奪者,” said Philip Kramer, director of the Caribbean program for the Nature Conservancy. “Instead of eating something like shark fin soup魚翅湯, why not eat a species that is causing harm, and with your meal make a positive contribution?” 為何不吃些有害動物，讓你每餐飯都做點功德?

Invasive species have become a vexing problem惱人的問題 in the United States, with population explosions of Asian carp亞洲鯉魚 clogging塞滿了 the Mississippi River and European green crabs mobbing the coasts.占據了沿海一帶的海域 With few natural predators in North America, such fast-breeding species繁殖速度快的物種 have thrived in American waters繁衍過量, eating native creatures and out-competing them for food and habitats.

While most invasive species are not commonly regarded as edible food, 可食用的that is mostly a matter of marketing, experts say. Imagine menus where Asian carp substitutes for the threatened Chilean sea bass,智利鱸魚 or lionfish replaces grouper石斑, which is overfished被撈捕過量.

“We think there could be a real market,” said Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food and Water Watch, whose 2011 Smart Seafood Guide recommends for the first time that diners seek out invasive species as a “safer, more sustainable”永續的 alternative to their more dwindling數量一直減少的 relatives, to encourage fisherman and markets to provide them.

“What these species need now is a better — sexier — profile, and more cooks who know how to use them,” she said. She has enlisted celebrity chefs to promote eating the creatures. 找了很多大廚來推廣獅子魚料理

Scientists emphasize that human consumption is only part of what is needed to control invasive species and restore native fish populations, 恢復原生地之前的魚群數量and that a comprehensive plan完整的方案 must include restoring fish predators to depleted habitats and erecting physical barriers實體的障礙 to prevent further dissemination of the invaders. 防止侵入物種進一步被散布繁衍

“We are not going to be able to just eat our way out of the invasive species problem,” Dr. Kramer said. “On the other hand, there are places where this can be a very useful part of the strategy.”

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is now exploring where it might be helpful. Models suggest that commercial harvest of Asian carp in the Mississippi would most likely help control populations there, “as part of an integrated整合性的 pest management program,” said Valerie Fellows, a spokeswoman.

In practice, it is still unclear whether commercial fishing pressure could be high enough to have a significant impact產生重要的影響, she said. The Army Corps of Engineers has spent millions of dollars to erect electronic barriers to keep Asian carp from moving from the Illinois River into the Great Lakes.

There are risks to whetting America’s appetite刺激美國人的食欲. Marketing an invasive species could make it so popular that “individuals would raise or release the fish” where they did not already exist, Ms. Fellows said, potentially exacerbating the problem讓問題惡化; tilapia吳郭魚 were originally imported into Latin America for weed and bug control, but commercialization helped the species spread far more widely than intended.

Dr. Kramer is concerned that the marketing of lionfish might increase the number of traps on reefs, which could trap other fish as well. He said spearfishing用魚叉捕魚 was the sustainable way to catch lionfish, which are reef dwellers.

Cookbooks do not say much about how to filet an Asian carp, which has an unusual bony structure魚刺很多. And even if one developed a taste for, say, European green crab soup, there is nowhere to buy the main ingredient, though it is plentiful in the sea.

To increase culinary烹飪的 demand, Food and Water Watch has teamed up with the James Beard Foundation and Kerry Heffernan, the chef at the South Gate restaurant in New York City, to devise recipes using the creatures.設計一些獅子魚料理菜單 At a recent tasting, there was Asian carp ceviche檸檬生魚片(此料理為中美洲與南美洲的國菜，以檸檬汁與香料去醃漬生魚片當成沙拉前菜吃) and braised lionfish filet紅燒獅子魚排 in brown butter sauce.

Lionfish, it turns out, looks hideous but tastes great外型醜但是肉質鮮美. The group had to hire fishermen to catch animals commonly regarded as pests害蟲或是有害生物. Mr. Heffernan said he would consider putting them on his menu and was looking forward to getting some molting換皮脫殼 European green crabs to try in soft-shell crab recipes.

Last summer, the Nature Conservancy sponsored a lionfish food fair in the Bahamas, featuring lionfish fritters and more. They offered fishermen $11 a pound — about the price of grouper — and got an abundant supply. Lionfish, native to the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, arrived in the Caribbean in the early 1990s and are spreading rapidly; voracious eaters食量驚人, they even eat juveniles of native fish.會吃掉當地原生的小魚

Lionfish, like grouper, can carry ciguatoxin珊瑚礁魚毒, which causes vomiting and neurological神經性毒 symptoms, so they cannot be taken from water where the microbe that produces the toxin is found. The fish’s venomous spines must be removed before sale, although that is not a serious marketing obstacle.

Mitchell Davis, vice president of the Beard Foundation, said other species had moved from being pariah pests大家所唾棄的有害魚類 to must-have items非吃不可的佳餚 on American plates, like dandelion greens蒲公英嫩葉 for salads.

l  蒲公英dandelion一字源自法文的dent de lion(teeth of lion)也就是獅子的牙齒。