As with several other, formerly inexpensive (honestly, downright CHEAP) and aesthetically unappealing fish varieties, there’s some current thought being given to how to market Asian (silver and bighead, specifically) carp as desirable – and palatable.  The primary goal is to get them on the hook as a trendy food fish, and get them the heck out of U.S. waterways, where they’ve become invasive and noxious.

And lest you think it’s just a mere annoyance, consider that the new Attorney General of Michigan has named it his Number One priority.  With a $7 billion sport fishing industry on the line, it’s no wonder.  Or imagine being Marcy Poplett, idling on the river on her jet ski to look at the fall colors, and waking up minutes later, bleeding and floating face down after being hit in the face by a leaping silver carp.

So getting them from the water to the plate in order to make a dent in the population (which has no natural predators in the areas it’s invading) seems like a wise plan, in conjunction with all other efforts.  I mean, Americans may argue endlessly over whether to spend public funding on the control, but if you can make it taste good – heck yeah…we’ll eat it to extinction, right?

Foss's Crisp Paupiette of Asian Carp in Barolo Sauce

The first step toward getting chow-hounds on board is going to have to be new name – we all know what the word “carp” brings to mind, in terms of a gustatory experience – muddy, bottom-feeding, boney, and better left to catch-and-release programs.  Branding Strategy Insider found these previous attempts at new nomenclature, which met with varying degrees of success:

I got a big kick out of the break-down on Chow:  ”A Chicago restaurant tried Shanghai Bass (sounds like a sex act, let’s be honest), Kentuckians called it Kentucky Tuna (also sort of sounds … well, I don’t know, I just know I don’t want to eat “Kentucky Tuna”), and in Louisiana, wildlife officials came up with Silverfin, which is just two precious consonants away from being “Silverfish,” something you never, ever want to look at, let alone put in your mouth.”

But Bob on Idea Peep Show (Fast Horse Marketing blawg) came up with what may be the most viable alternative – Cyprinia, a riff on the scientific name.

Pretty brilliant, and he’s got a logo ready to boot!  We’re such interesting creatures, we humans, that we place so much stock in what something is called, rather than evaluating it for its inherent properties.  No wonder people actually get paid to tell us what to buy.