The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a suggestion to help curb the growing population of an invasive species that bears a resemblance to a very large rat: Eat them.
The invasive species, nutria, is a large, semiaquatic rodent increasingly found in marshes in the United States
As a part of its National Invasive Species Awareness Week, which ended on Friday, the federal agency released a list of invasive species that Americans can hunt, catch and cook to help control the unwanted pests.
Topping the list: the nutria, whose population is increasing and disrupting marshland ecosystems. The agency noted in its public advisory that hunting nutrias is not a total solution but is a start.
“OK, so how can we help?” the Feb. 20 advisory said. “Nutria gumbo. Their meat is lean, mild and tastes like rabbit.”
Nutrias, which weigh 15 to 20 pounds, are increasingly found along the Gulf Coast, in the Pacific Northwest and in the Southeastern United States. Their exact population is unknown.
They are native to South America but were introduced to North America in the 19th century during the heyday of the fur trade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A group of nutrias, called a colony, can disrupt ecosystems and farming operations by burrowing extensively and uprooting flora. The animal’s feeding habits can cause widespread erosion in wetland areas — like “something out of a disaster movie,” the Fish and Wildlife Service said on social media.
“Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria,” the agency added.
Nutrias can serve as a flavorful base for all sorts of dishes, according to Philippe Parola, a chef based in Baton Rouge, La., and the author of “Can’t Beat ’Em, Eat ’Em,” a cookbook with recipes for 40 invasive species, including nutrias.
“It was crockpot nutria,” Mr. Parola said. “You get the hind and you put it in a crockpot — vegetable, beef broth, tomato paste. And you get the perfect stew.”
As long as the meat is cleaned after hunting, cooking nutria is like preparing any wild game, he said.
The community of Venice, La., situated at the end of the Mississippi River, hosts the annual Louisiana Nutria Rodeo. It is a competition to hunt and cook nutria, taking them out of the wild in a mission to conserve the bayou.
The rodeo, held in early February, attracted about 500 participants this year.
According to Robbie Carter, the event organizer, some hunters show up with “truckloads” of the dead animal for the nutria toss (in which carcasses are flung for distance), nutria cornhole and, best of all, the nutria cook-off.
“You have about six or seven teams,” Mr. Carter said. “They made tacos, they made gumbo, they made sloppy joes using fresh nutria meat.”
“Tastes like chicken,” he added.
Mr. Parola said he was skeptical that any public advisory could effectively encourage more people to hunt nutria. But he hoped that nutria dishes could be commercialized and prepared more often, rather than just as a novelty.
He said he once cooked a 20-gallon nutria gumbo at the rodeo for attendees to sample.
“It was gone in no time,” he said.
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