From the category archives:

Field Notes

Invader vs. Invader

February 17, 2014

Crazy ants may soon displace fire ants from much of the southeastern U.S. and become the new ecologically dominant invasive ant species. Read more here.

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Eat the Invaders in Brazil

February 9, 2014

Fala portugués? Eat the Invaders has been covered by Brazil’s Época magazine. Roast capybara, anyone? Coma as Invasores

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Asian Carp at the Doorstep of Great Lakes

January 7, 2014

The Asian carp could devastate native species and local fisheries in the Great Lakes. Can the Army Corps of Engineers and regional managers stop this invasion. David Schaper provides an update on NPR.

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We Came over on The Mayflower, Too! A Timeline of North American Invasive Species

November 20, 2013

1000 Leif Erikson explores the coast of North America. 1500s Water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes, introduced, perhaps in the ballast water of ships from Spain or South America. 1539 Feral pigs, Sus scrofa, begin with the introduction of Spanish domestic stock in Florida by Hernando de Soto; whether the release was accidental or intentional is unknown. […]

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Cows Eat Weeds, Too

November 18, 2013

It’s not only humans that can develop an appetite for invaders. Kathy Voth, founder of Livestock for Landscapes, has helped farmers control invasive weeds on their land by training cows to eat invasive multiflora rose. The cows are fed the roses, until they develop a taste for it. Says one farmer: “the cows ate all […]

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News from Sparkling Lake

November 4, 2013

In the early 2000s, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison began an eight-year battle against an invasive species found in northern Wisconsin’s Sparkling lake. Orconectes rusticus, known as the rusty crayfish, was mowing down native plants, to better spot approaching predators, and outcompeting native crayfish. It consumed the eggs of native fish, and left other […]

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El Puerco, Conquistador

October 9, 2013

A new poem by ETI’s armchair invasivore, Debora Greger.
The smallest party but for two women,
we thirteen pigs boarded in Cuba.
Six hundred men, their horse and war dogs
disembarked with us in La Florida—
and who then had the best of it?

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Of Carp and Furloughs

October 8, 2013

DO NOT ship grass carp and black carp carcasses or eyes to federal facilities during the furlough. For grass carp captured from the Great Lakes or other portions of the United States where grass carp are very rare or not thought to be established, and for black carp captured from anywhere in North America, please […]

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Send in the Invasivores

September 13, 2013

“We’re trying to be unsustainable.” Joe Roman talks invasivory and shares a recipe with Conservation Magazine.

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ETI in Australia’s Smith Journal

August 2, 2013

Smith Journal‘s Chris Harrington interviewed Joe Roman for the winter issue. Caring for the planet needn’t come at the expense of enjoying its fruits. Or animals, for that matter. Eat the Invaders is a collection of recipes encouraging culinary conservationism by cooking with pests. We asked creator Joe Roman about helping the environment “one bite […]

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Land

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Wild Pig

Did the domestic ancestors of today’s feral pigs streak off De Soto’s ship into the Florida scrub of their own accord in 1539? Or did they have to be urged to go find something to eat? All you need to…


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Garden Snail

Deliberately or accidentally, by the movement of plants and by hobbyists who collect snails, humans have spread the garden snail to temperate and subtropical zones around the world.


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Garlic Mustard

  Alliaria petiolata Native range: Europe, Asia, Northwest Africa Invasive range: Much of the Lower 48, Alaska, and Canada. (See map.) Habitat: Moist, shaded soil of floodplains, forests, roadsides, edges of woods, and forest openings. Often dominant in disturbed areas. Description: Biennial herb. First-year plant has a rosette of green leaves close to the ground. […]


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Prickly Pear

Fall is here, and the “cactus fig” is in season. Time to plate-up another widespread invader.


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Sow Thistle

It’s spring and time to weed. Sow thistle is a delicious invader found throughout the continent.


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Sea

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Asian Shore Crab

The first sighting of the Asian shore crab in the United States was at Townsend Inlet, Cape May County, New Jersey, in 1988. Though the source is unknown . . .


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Periwinkle

The common periwinkle, which first appeared in New England in the 1860s, is now found along the coast wherever there’s hard substrate–rocks, riprap, broken concrete, or docks–from Labrador to . . .


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Lionfish

Some say it started in 1992 in Miami when Hurricane Andrew smashed an aquarium tank. Don’t blame the weather, others say; in the mid-nineties, disappointed yet softhearted hobbyists…


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Wakame

  Undaria pinnatifida Native range: Japan Sea Invasive range: Southern California, San Francisco Bay, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Argentina Habitat: Opportunistic seaweed, can be found on hard substrates including rocky reefs, pylons, buoys, boat hulls, and abalone and bivalve shells. Description: Golden brown seaweed, growing up to nine feet. Forms thick canopy. Reproductive sporophyll in […]


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Green Crab

Since the green crab was first recorded off southern Massachusetts in 1817, it has been hard to ignore. A few minutes of rock-flipping in Maine can turn up dozens of them, brandishing their claws as they retreat…


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Fresh

Armored Catfish Meatballs (1)

Armored Catfish

The armored catfish is abundant and destructive in Florida, Texas, and Mexico. Cast your nets for these flavorful natives of the Amazon. Scientific name: Two types have become established in North America: armadillo del rio, Hypostomus plecostomus, and sailfin catfishes in genus Pterygoplichthys Native range: Amazon River Basin Invasive range: Texas, Florida, and Hawaii; also […]


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Common Carp

For a bottom-feeder, what is the good life? The common carp isn’t very demanding: any body of water that’s sluggish and murky will do. If the water is clean, and you’ve got corn for bait, try one of these recipes.


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Watercress

  Nasturtium officianale Native Range: Northern Africa, Europe, temperate Asia, and India Invasive Range: In USA: all lower 48 states, except North Dakota. Found in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Also southern Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Australasia, and parts of tropical Asia. Habitat: Common along stream margins, ditches, and other areas with […]


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Crayfish

  There are numerous invasive crayfish. We include details for the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and the rusty crayfish (Orenectes rusticus). The same recipes can be used for both species–and many other invasive crayfish. Red Swamp Crayfish Native range: Known as Louisiana crayfish, crawdad, and mudbug, Procambarus clarkii is native to the south central […]


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Nutria

Nutria, also known as coypu and river rat, is native to temperate and subtropical South America. It has been introduced to Europe, Asia, and Africa, mainly for fur farming. These voracious. . .


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Field Notes

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Invasive Crabs Have Taken Over New England. One Solution? Eat Them.

Read about it in The New York Times Magazine


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Snails with a Side of Knotweed, Anyone? Biologist Wants You to Eat Invasive Animals and Plants

Read about it in the Daily Mail.


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“If you can’t beat them, eat them.” Why foraging for invasive plants is good for you 

“We’re not trying to make it sustainable. The goal is eradication.” Read about eating invasives in the Boston Globe.


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Chef Serves Gourmet Meals with Unexpected Invasive Ingredients

“It suddenly occurred to me that we could flip the script and find a way to consume animals and plants where it is actually beneficial for the environment.” Read about it in The Cool Down


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Can We Eliminate Invasive Species by Eating Them?

On restaurant menus across New England, green crabs are showing up in everything from bouillabaisse and bisques to croquettes and crudo. Read about it in Salon.


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“There’s a world of food growing volunteer, if you just know where to look for it.”

Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

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