I'm often asked what is the most pressing problem
for our Great Lakes.
My answer:
Invasive species.
When a new species is dropped into an ecosystem in which it has never existed, it often has a huge survival advantage and can toss the entire system out of balance for a time.
As I've walked the shorelines of our vast inland seas, I've often seen evidence of the destructive power of invasives.
While vigilance and legislation (e.g. strict ballast water treatment laws) can help prevent transport of new species into the Great Lakes Basin, what can be done to control them once they have established a hold in the lakes?
INVASIVEORE.ORG has some ideas...
and recipes!
From their website:
Our mission here at Invasivore is to be your one-stop guide for devouring Invasive Species, those organisms which have been moved around the world, damaging their new surroundings. Think of it as reasonable revenge for the harm these species cause. The word “invasivore” comes from combining “Invasive Species” with the latin for “devour” as in “carnivore”. Thus invasivore = one who eats invasive species.
From prehistoric times, humans have had an amazing track-record of severely reducing the populations of species we eat. Indeed, it seems that much of the time we can’t stop ourselves. Can we tap that hunger to reduce the impacts of harmful invasive species? We think the answer is Yes!
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Alewife, an invasive species native to the Atlantic Ocean long established in the Great Lakes |
Check out all the recipes on their site, including one for
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