When an invasive fish is also tasty, Maryland schoolkids can help 'eat the problem'
asserted
schoolkids → help → problem
Kids file in, get dollops of food on their segmented trays, and maybe grab a chocolate milk.
asserted
Kids → file → milk
But one option on today's menu is special, served alongside grapes and broccoli.
asserted
option → serve → grapes
"I got a catfish sandwich!" announces Ben Rochon, a second-grader.
asserted
Rochon → got → sandwich
Between mouthfuls, he tells me how it is: "It's yummy."
asserted
It → tell → me
He's eating a catfish cake, also known by its nickname, the "catty patty."
asserted
He → eat → nickname
Some kids like it with ketchup or mayo.
asserted
kids → like → ketchup
Fifth-grader Teagan Donovan goes minimal.
asserted
Donovan → go → ?
"I like it by itself with no toppings, because it's pretty good by itself," she says.
asserted
she → like → itself
In Teagan's case, "by itself" is literal: "I ignore the bun."
asserted
I → ignore → bun
But more kids have been trying catfish when it's served a couple of times a month.
asserted
it → try → times
That's good news to Beth Brewster, who oversees food services for Caroline County Public Schools.
asserted
who → oversee → Schools
"It tastes great.
asserted
It → taste → ?
It's great for you," she says of the fish cake.
asserted
she → say → cake
It has another benefit: It's made with blue catfish.
asserted
It → have → catfish
Since spreading to the Chesapeake Bay in recent decades, the fish has become an apex predator.
asserted
fish → spread → decades
It can grow to more than 100 pounds; its voracious appetite is fueling worries that it's eating too many native species.
asserted
it → grow → species
"It tastes so good because it eats everything we love — crabs and rockfish, and all kinds of things that we love to eat," Brewster says.
asserted
Brewster → taste → that
State officials first asked Brewster to help tackle this problem about eight years ago.
asserted
officials → ask → problem
"I was like, 'Beth, we have this invasive species.
asserted
we → have → species
It tastes pretty good, is what we've been hearing.
asserted
we → taste → what
Can you do something about it?'" says Karen Fedor, administrator of the Farm and Food Programs at the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
asserted
Fedor → do → Agriculture
Fedor describes Brewster as an "out-of-the-box thinker" who'd be up for the challenge of experimenting with recipes that appeal to kids — and also conform with federal dietary requirements.
asserted
that → describe → requirements
That's how Brewster's team landed on a crabcake-like dish made of blue catfish.
asserted
team → land → catfish
"It was kind of fun for my chefs to play with the recipe
asserted
chefs → play → recipe
," she says, adding that because they have USDA approval, the cakes can be served anywhere in the U.S.
The pandemic initially slowed the effort down, Brewster says.
asserted
Brewster → say → effort
But then she heard that Virginia was partnering with a California-based program called Bay2Tray to connect seafood with schools.
asserted
Virginia → hear → schools
Brewster got in touch with a simple message: "I have a fish for you."
asserted
I → get → you
Now, other school districts in both Maryland and Virginia are serving blue catfish.
asserted
districts → serve → catfish
In Preston, a rural community near the Choptank River, kids are excited to do their part by chowing down on the catty patty.
asserted
kids → do → patty
"It kind of tastes like crabs, but in a fish way," says fifth-grader Raelynn Truitt.
asserted
Truitt → taste → way
Invasive fish came from the Midwest
To Brewster, the blue catfish presents a bad news-good news proposition.
asserted
catfish → come → proposition
It was first brought to rivers in Virginia in the 1970s for recreational fishing.
asserted
It → bring → fishing
"Blue catfish are a large freshwater catfish native to the Midwest," says Branson Williams, manager of the Invasive Fishes Program for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
asserted
Williams → say → Resources
The idea, he says, was that people would catch the fish in a few rivers feeding into the Chesapeake.
asserted
people → say → Chesapeake
But brackish water in the bay would keep them from spreading.
asserted
water → keep → them
"They're a freshwater fish; they should stay in those freshwater portions of the river," Williams says.
asserted
Williams → stay → river
But, it turns out, "they can handle some salinity."
asserted
they → turn → salinity
You could even say those officials got catfished.
uncertain
officials → say → ?
Because in 2018, when Virginia and Maryland had record rainfall, the blue catfish used all that fresh water to leave those rivers and find new habitats.
asserted
catfish → have → habitats
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
