This promotional photo shows a Copi Po’ Boy prepared by chef Brian Jupiter.
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A Copi poster encourages people to eat more of the freshwater fish.
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Illinois officials last week declared "Copi" henceforth will be the term used to identify the invasive carp, also known as Asian carp, that have overrun Illinois rivers and pose an ongoing threat to fish populations in the Great Lakes.
Illinois officials last week declared "Copi" henceforth will be the name used to identify the invasive carp, also known as Asian carp, that is overrunning Illinois rivers and poses an ongoing threat to Great Lakes fish populations.
The goal is to take something currently seen as a nuisance and turn it into something people might instead eagerly pick off a restaurant menu.
"Copi is a great name: Short, crisp and easy to say. What diner won’t be intrigued when they read Copi tacos or Copi burgers on a menu?" asked Colleen Callahan, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
"It's a tasty fish that’s easy to work with in the kitchen and it plates beautifully. Every time we’ve offered samples during the Illinois State Fair, people have walked away floored by how delicious it is."
According to Illinois officials, Copi are freshwater, top-feeding, wild-caught fish with a mild, clean taste, plenty of heart-healthy Omega-3s and very low levels of mercury.
The new name is a play on "copious," since that’s exactly what these fish are. By one estimate, 20 to 50 million pounds of Copi could be harvested from the Illinois River alone each year, with hundreds of millions more in waterways from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast.
"Enjoying Copi in a restaurant or at home is one of the easiest things people can do to help protect our waterways and Lake Michigan," said John Goss, former White House invasive carp adviser.
"As home to the largest continuous link between Lake Michigan and the Copi-filled Mississippi River system, Illinois has a unique responsibility in the battle to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes. I’m proud of Illinois, its partners and other states for rising to this challenge."
Already, 21 chefs and retailers have committed to putting Copi on their menus or in their stores, and 14 processors, manufacturers and distributors are making Copi products available.
The dishes available in Chicago include smoked Copi at Calumet Fisheries and Gaijin, Copi po'boy at Ina Mae Tavern, Copi Cuban sliders and Copi bolognese at Dirk's Fish & Gourmet Shop and a Copi appetizer at Herb. The A. Fusion restaurant in Matteson, Illinois, also is featuring a variety of Copi dishes.
"Copi is more savory than tilapia, cleaner tasting than catfish, and firmer than cod," said Brian Jupiter, a “Chopped” champion and chef at Ina Mae Tavern.
"It’s the perfect canvas for creativity — pan fried, steamed, broiled, baked, roasted or grilled. Copi can be ground for burgers, fish cakes, dumplings and tacos."
More Copi dining sites and Copi recipes are available online at ChooseCopi.com.
The Copi name change won't be official until approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, possibly by the end of the year. Until then, Copi sold at fish markets and in grocery stores will be labeled as both carp and Copi.
It's not unprecedented to alter a fish name to make it more marketable. For example, orange roughy originally was known as slimehead, Chilean sea bass is actually the Patagonian toothfish and peekytoe crab formerly was called mud crab.
Name changes also have been used to sell other natural products, such as Chinese gooseberries becoming “kiwi" and rapeseed oil renamed as "canola" oil.
Copi originally were imported from southeast Asia to the United States to help keep clean fish farm retention ponds in southern states. But flooding and accidental releases in the 1970s allowed them to escape, multiply and migrate up the Mississippi River system.
Ever since, local, state and federal government entities have worked to prevent the invasive species from entering Lake Michigan, which would threaten a $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry and a $16 billion-a-year tourism industry in the Great Lakes.
History photos: Chicago's Soldier Field through the years
Illinois officials last week declared "Copi" henceforth will be the term used to identify the invasive carp, also known as Asian carp, that have overrun Illinois rivers and pose an ongoing threat to fish populations in the Great Lakes.